GX Legacy: Twelve Stars
by The Azure Guardian
Summary: Making his way into Duel Academia, a young but talented hacker befriends Yuki Judai, Manjoume Jun, Tenjouin Asuka, and others as they try to make the grade and save the world. Challenge issued by Storylover213. Rated T to be safe, may contain some swearing and mild suggestive content. Currently accepting OCs! Submissions through reviews WILL BE IGNORED!
1. Turn 1

**A/N: Hey everyone, this is The Azure Guardian. Well with Keyblade of the Onmyouji on hold until Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix comes out and my sequel to Death Rising on hold until Duelist of Dawn catches up to a point where he and I can reach a connecting point with our stories *hint hint*, I bring to you all a Yu-Gi-Oh! GX story! Now before anyone starts sending me messages, I _know_ the kind of bad luck I've had with writing GX fics before as you can plainly see from Duel Academia Legends and Duel Academia Psychosis. HOWEVER! This fic was actually issued to me as a challenge by Storylover213. I decided to take on the challenge because I _have_ created a deck that I'd like to make use of but it can only work in a GX setting. You'll probably be seeing it in Fennikusumaru's Kamen Rider GX story pretty soon, but here you'll be seeing how it's used by the creator. Also, just like with my other Yu-Gi-Oh fics, this story will be using the Japanese version accompanied by subbed episodes by GymLeaderLance99 on his dailymotion account. And I guess I could say this would be my remake of Duel Academia Legends I mentioned a long time ago in one of the other stories. So without further ado, let's get this show on the road!**

**Oh, wait, before we continue I'd like to say that Master of the Wild Card assisted me with this chapter, particularly by dueling as Kaito's examiner. So in case you're wondering exactly why that duel turned out the way it did... you can blame him for being a poor duelist.**

**I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'll probably be asking for his help in future chapters as well, though I might need some more help from others willing to offer. Normally I'd be asking for Duelist of Dawn to help with my duels (if anyone has read his GX stories, his duels are phenomenal) but he has a lot on his plate right now and I don't want him to be overloaded by juggling my stuff with everything he's already dealing with.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise! I _do_, however, own my OCs Kagemochi Kaito, Ikeda Kenji, Kururugi Michiru, and Hayami Akira as well as the _Digital HERO_, _Sengoku_ and _Agarest Soul_ decks. Other characters and decks will be named later on.**

**Notes:  
****• Numbers that are underlined when a Monster is summoned represent the Monster's battle position on the field with the stats appearing as Level/ATK/DEF respectively.  
• "_Sentences within quotations in full italics represent a dialogue from a Monster spirit or a special character that'll be announced later._"  
• '_Sentences within apostrophes in full italics represent a character's thoughts to mentally speaking to a Monster spirit._'  
• A word or words in _italics_ within a sentence or dialogue will either be a title, an emphasized word or words, a card name, or a word or words in a language other than English.  
• _A word or words not in _italics_ while in thoughts, spoken by a spirit or a certain special character will either be a title, and emphasized word or words, a card name, or a word or words in a language other than English.  
_• All card names will be using the translations found on the yugioh wikia at the current time.  
• I'm likely to use the anime versions of some card effects, so if anyone thinks I got an effect wrong that would be why. Later on I'll try to keep the effects as close to their real counterparts as possible.  
• I will try not to use a lot of Japanese words or phrases during the course of this story outside of the honorifics, "My turn" variants and "Turn end".  
• Instead of having a decklist showing all the cards in the various self-created decks like I have done with the Epitaph deck in Death Rising, I will instead be listing the new cards that were self-made at the end of chapters whenever they make their first appearance.**

* * *

**-Turn 1-**

Domino City. Home to some of the world's greatest duelists, among which were the following: Kaiba Seto, CEO of the gaming conglomerate _Kaiba Corporation_. Katsuya Jonouchi, a duelist with an abnormal amount of luck on his side. And lastly, the Duel King himself, Mutou Yugi. 10 years ago, these three were the top duelists of the Battle City Tournament hosted by Kaiba himself. But now, a new event for students was currently taking place in this famous city. The event: a chance to enter the popular Duel Academia.

"Oh man! Why did the train's system have to break down _today_ of all days?" a young man of 18 dressed in a blue shirt under an open, short-sleeved red jacket and brown slacks with wild azure hair and green eyes complained as he ran through the streets from the train station. "Now I'm going to be late for the entrance exam!"

"_Calm down, Kaito-_san (1)_. You still have some time to spare,_" a woman's voice came out of the young man's backpack.

The young man slowed down until he came to a stop and replied in a low voice, "You _know_ how important this exam is for me… I can't afford to miss it."

"_I know, Kaito-_san_. But at least you _were_ on that train when its systems failed. Otherwise it would've taken longer to get it running again,_" the woman's voice said.

"Yeah, you're right…" the young man said as he reached into the deck holder on his belt and pulled out a deck on Duel Monsters cards, soon placing his other hand over them gently. "_On__ē__sama_ (2), I promise I'll carry your dream…" Suddenly, an alarm started to go off in the young man's pocket, prompting him to remove one hand from the deck of cards and pull a phone out of his pocket, causing him to freak out once he saw why it was ringing. "Aw, crap! I'm already late!"

Quickly putting away his phone and cards, the young man ran as fast as he could to a large dome-shaped building on top of a hill. Once the building's entrance was in sight, however, the young man noticed that the only ones outside were two girls wearing a white and yellow school uniform and a man in a black business suit.

"No… I'm too late…" the young made said to himself as he dropped to his knees. "_On__ē__sama_, I'm sorry…"

"_Kaito-_san…" the woman's voice said in a sympathetic tone. "_Hm?_"

"Wait up!" a voice cried out, earning Kaito's attention as well as the attention of the two girls and the man at the registration table.

Climbing up the wall and pulling himself over the railing was a young man with brown hair dressed in a black school jacket with a red shirt underneath.

"Examinee Number 110, Yuki Judai!" the young man introduced himself as he flashed a victory sign. "I'm safe, right?"

Seeing this other late examinee brought new hope to Kaito as he got back to his feet, "W-wait! Examinee Number 2, Kagemochi Kaito! Am I safe as well?"

The two women at the registration desk looked to Kaito and Judai before turning their attention to the suited man who just nodded once.

"You both made it just in time," the man said.

Both Kaito's and Judai's eyes widened as smiles spread across their faces before they cheered in unison, "Alright! I made it!" But then Kaito ran over to help Judai up, as the latter was about to fall off the railing.

"Phew, thanks!" Judai said to Kaito. "So you're late too?"

"Yeah," Kaito nodded. "Train problem."

"No kidding? Same with me," Judai said with a cheeky grin.

"You two had better get inside," the suited man told the examinees, to which Kaito and Judai nodded to each other and walked through the doors.

The inside of the building was modeled like some kind of in-door sports stadium surrounded by bleachers with students looking down at the four Duel fields.

"Look, down there!" Kaito pointed to one of the Duel fields as he and Judai ran up to the railings at the top of the bleachers.

"They're at it! They're at it!" Judai cheered.

In one of the Duel fields stood a proctor at 1900 Life Points and a student who wore what looked like a Chinese school or martial arts uniform at 3200 Life Points with the proctor having a _Big Shield Gardna_ (4/100/2600) and _Gear Golem of Moving Fortress_ (4/800/2200) and the student having _Blood Vorse_ (4/1900/1200) and a set Magic/Trap card.

"No matter how well-capable you may be, in the face of my Super Defense Deck, you can no longer reduce my Life Points," the proctor stated.

"I activate the Trap card, _Ring of Destruction_!" the student announced as his set card rose, revealing a ring-shaped device with numerous grenades attached to it. "This Trap card destroys one face-up Monster on the field, and then both sides take damage equal to its ATK."

As the student explained the effect of his card, the ring-shaped device materialized on his own _Blood Vorse_ like a collar before self-destructing, taking the Monster with it, reducing the proctor's Life Points to 0 while the student was still left with 1300, bringing the duel to an end.

"The examination duel is over," the proctor said, seemingly unfazed as the card holograms faded. "Congratulations. You've won."

"Thank you very much," the student said with a bow.

* * *

"Misawa Daichi, Examinee Number 1, isn't half-bad, is he?" one of the spectators inquired.

"It was worth coming all this way to see him after hearing the rumors, wasn't it, Manjoume-_san_?" asked another spectator.

"Nonsense. These entry exam duels are just set at a low level," said another spectator, supposedly Manjoume, who sat between the former two and had black hair with the front spiked down over his face and the back spiked up. "Coming out of the academy for this was such a waste. The Duel Academia doesn't need two kings, only _one_."

* * *

"Number 1's combo was awesome, huh?" Judai thought aloud.

"Of course it was," a voice spoke up.

Judai and Kaito looked down to see a boy with light-blue hair and glasses. Though he didn't look it due to his height, the boy was likely around the same age as the latecomers.

"That's Misawa-_kun_ (3), Examinee Number 1, or in other words, first place in the written test," the boy continued.

"Oh, so _that's_ what your Examinee Number means, huh?" Judai wondered.

"So he's the guy that scored higher than me," Kaito noted to himself. "Gotta say, that definitely was an impressive move."

"You pass depending on your grades on the written portion and the details of your duel," the boy stated. "I managed to win my duel, but since I'm Examinee Number 119, I'm not sure if they'll accept me…"

"Don't sweat it!" Judai exclaimed enthusiastically as he lightly slapped the boy's back. "If you're lucky enough, you'll pass! I'm Number _110_, after all!"

"You're an examinee, too?" the boy asked.

"Sure am," Judai answered.

"But the duels for the 100s already ended with the very first group," the boy pointed out.

"It _what_!?" Judai exclaimed and looked like he was about to panic.

"What about me? My group didn't end already, did it?" Kaito asked the boy.

"What Number are you?" the boy asked.

"Number 2," Kaito answered.

"_You're_ Number 2!?" the boy exclaimed in surprise. "You _just_ missed your duel!"

"No way!" Kaito cried out, about to fall into the same state as Judai.

"B-but since you still got here in time, they _might_ be able to fit you in," the boy said before looking back to Judai. "Unfortunately I don't know what they'll so about you."

* * *

"We don't even need to deliberate on Misawa-_kun_. I think it's settled," one faculty member said to another concerning the last duel.

"Mm-hmm. He's the last of them," the other faculty member agreed.

Sitting next to them, another faculty member with blonde hair and dressed in a rather frilly blue uniform was going through some paperwork when the suited man from outside walked up to the faculty member.

"I beg your pardon," the suited man said, earning the attention of the faculty member. "There are two more examinees that made it to registration at the last minute…"

"What did they rank of the written test?" the blonde faculty member asked.

"Examinee Numbers 110 and 2," the suited man said.

"Fine, I'll have someone prep to test Number 2," the faculty member said. "But Number 110 must have little sense of readiness if he's arriving _this_ late, no? We have no need for a dropout boy in _our_ academy, now, do we?"

"Even so, he made it _somewhat_ on time, so he _does_ qualify for the exam…" the first faculty member pointed out.

"And a train incident is to blame, anyway…" an older faculty member stated.

"Wouldn't it be a bad idea to not let him take it?" the second faculty member questioned.

"_Non problema-lema! Non! Non! Non!_" the blonde faculty member argued until his phone started to ring, to which he pulled it out of his pants pocket and answered it. "_Scusi_? With whom am I speaking? Oh, Mr. Principal!"

"I heard that there are a couple examinees that arrived at the last minute due to a train incident," said the man on the other end, the supposed principal of Duel Academia, which surprised the faculty member how he found out so soon. "Whether or not they did poorly on the written exam, you mustn't deprive them of their chance. Our school's aim _is_ to garner a wide range of talents to train them into well-rounded duelists, after all."

Once the call ended, the faculty member hung up his phone.

"Such sharp ears… You sly old dog…" the faculty member cursed to himself. '_Duel Academia is an academy for the Dueling Elite! Perché?! Why is Principal Samejima backing the dropout boy?_' "I will be dueling Examinee Number 110!"

Just as the blonde faculty member was about to leave, one of the other members called out to him. "P-Please wait!" the faculty member then pulled out a suitcase full of various decks. "Professor Chronos, please take an examination deck."

"I have no need for one of _those_! I shall be using my own deck!" the blonde faculty member, Professor Chronos, declared as he walked off. "But send someone for Examinee Number 2's exam before I duel Number 110!"

* * *

Up at the bleachers, Misawa Daichi had made his way back from the Duel field and took a seat near the top right in front of Judai and Kaito.

"You're one tough customer," Judai said to Misawa.

"I guess," Misawa shrugged.

"You may be the second-strongest out of the examinees this year," Judai said with a cheeky grin.

Kaito, Misawa and the shorter boy turned to Judai with confused looks on their faces.

"_Examinee Number 2, Kagemochi Kaito-_kun_…_" a woman's voice called over the PA system.

"All right! My turn!" Kaito said while pumping his fist. "Time to make my debut!"

"Wait, you mean this is your first duel?" the short blue-haired boy asked.

"That's right," Kaito answered with a nod before pulling his deck out of its holder. "And with this deck, I'll make it to the top!"

Keeping a firm grip on his deck of cards, Kaito ran down the stairs towards the Duel field.

"If this is his first duel, I don't see how he'll make it into the academy even _if_ he scored right below me," Misawa said.

"Well that'll just make it more interesting to watch," Judai said, getting excited to see what Kaito would do.

* * *

Down at the Duel field, Kaito was raised up as he pulled off his backpack and pulled out an oddly-designed Duel Disk; the section that held the deck and Cemetery slots, as well as an extra slot opposite the deck slot, was white and in a hexagonal shape with what looked like a blue crystal embedded in the center while the tray was completely straight with what looked like data streams pulsing through the card zones.

"_Good luck, Kaito-_san," the woman's voice from before, now identified as coming from the Duel Disk itself, said.

"Thanks," the young man replied as he put the custom Duel Disk on his left arm and shuffled his deck before sliding it into the machine.

Just as Kaito finished his preparations, his proctor opponent had just entered the field.

"Examinee Number 2, Kagemochi Kaito… I will be your opponent for this exam," the proctor introduced himself. "If you cannot prove yourself against me, you will not be allowed into Duel Academia this year."

"Then I'll give it everything I have," Kaito responded. "I _have_ to make it in this year!"

"That's what I like to hear," the proctor said with a grin.

"Duel!" the two called out as they drew their initial five cards.

Examiner: 4000  
Kaito: 4000

"_Watashi no t__ān_ (4)!" the proctor announced as he took the first turn by drawing his sixth card. "I summon _Winged Rhyno_!"

As the proctor played his card, a creature that looked like a half-bird and half-rhino with wings wearing armor and wielding a double-sided kanabo appeared on the field (4/1800/500).

"Then I'll set two cards face-down," the proctor said as two reversed cards appeared behind his Monster. "_Tān endo_ (5)!"

Proctor's hand: 3

"Here we go! _Boku no tān_ (6)!" Kaito called out as he drew his sixth card and looked over what he had. "I summon _Digital HERO – Tsukasa_ in Defense mode!"

As Kaito played his card, yellow rings of light descended onto the field as a silver-haired boy clad with grey robes with salmon-colored markings on his face materialized into the field carrying a large silver staff with a red orb floating in the center (4/1400/1600)

* * *

"_Digital HERO_?" the short boy wondered as he, Judai and Misawa saw Kaito's Monster.

"That card looks so cool! Like something out of a game!" Judai exclaimed.

* * *

"The _Digital HERO_ cards?" a tall young man dressed in a white and blue blazer with dark blue hair said quietly.

"You heard of them?" questioned a blonde young woman who stood next to the young man, also dressed in a school uniform of a white top and blue skirt.

"They're a set of very rare cards built around Union effects, but…" the young man trailed off.

"The original owner of those cards died years ago," another male voice spoke up.

The young man and young woman turned to the one who spoke, another young man wearing a white and blue blazer with short, jet-black hair in a wolf-cut style and a black cloth mask covering his nose and mouth was leaning back against the wall.

"You've heard of them too, Kenji-_kun_?" the first young man asked, to which the second, Kenji, nodded once before pushing himself from the wall and walking up to the railing next to the young woman.

"I'm curious how this kid got a hold of those cards…" Kenji mused behind his mask, to which his two companions looked at each other for a moment before returning their attention to the Duel field.

* * *

"Next, I activate the Magic card, _Party of Three_!" Kaito continued as he played his next card. "Since I was able to Normal Summon a Monster this turn, I can Special Summon up to two Monsters from my hand!" As Kaito pushed the Magic card into his Cemetery slot, he grabbed two other cards from his hand. "I Special Summon _Digital HERO – Subaru_ and _Digital HERO – Piros_, both in Defense mode!"

As Kaito played his next cards, some more yellow rings of light descended onto the field. From the first set appeared a petite, blue-haired woman wearing a light blue dress with small white wings on the back and a red marking on her forehead while carrying a small axe (4/1500/1300).

From the second set of rings appeared a tall man wearing heavy, light green armor with a red, spiked left shoulder and a bowl-cut hairstyle carrying a large, double-bladed axe (4/1800/2000).

"Activate Trap card, _Black Horn of Ascension_!" the proctor countered as one of his reversed cards rose up and a large, deformed horn with bat-shaped wings appeared on the field. "When my opponent Special Summons a Monster, I can activate this card to negate the Special Summon and destroy the Monster! And I choose your _Digital HERO – Subaru_!"

_Winged Rhyno_ then grabbed hold of the horn and blew into it, launching the shockwaves towards _Subaru_ and causing her to shatter into pixels.

"_No, _Subaru_!_" _Tsukasa_ cried out as he watched his friend be destroyed.

"I'm sorry, _Tsukasa_," Kaito apologized in a low voice before looking through his hand again, grabbed another card and pushed it into the tray. "I'll set one card face-down! _Tān endo_!"

Kaito's hand: 1

* * *

"I thought you said those cards were Unions Monsters," the blonde young woman directed to Kenji, to which the young man continued to watch the duel without replying.

* * *

"_Watashi no tān_!" the proctor said as he drew his next card. "I summon _Newt_!"

As the proctor played his card, a bipedal figure with blue skin wearing brown pants and yellow chest armor with green sleeves wielding a staff appeared. (4/1900/400)

'_Here it comes… Forgive me, _Tsukasa_…_' Kaito thought to himself as he prepared to activate his set card.

"_Newt_, attack _Digital HERO – Piros_!" the proctor commanded, confusing Kaito as the _Demon_ Monster held out its staff and fired a surge of magic at the armored _Warrior_.

"Sorry proctor, but _Piros_' DEF is higher than your Monster's ATK!" Kaito pointed out as the attack struck _Piros_' armor, only for the _Warrior_ to flex his arms and laugh as the magic was deflected off and arced back to the proctor who tried to brace himself.

Examiner: 3900  
Kaito: 4000

Everyone currently watching the duel couldn't help but sweatdrop at the proctor's move.

Once the smoke cleared, the proctor was dusting off his coat, "Good move, student. You caught me by surprise."

"Uh, thank you…" Kaito said, completely speechless by the proctor's mistake.

"Now then, _Winged Rhyno_! Attack _Digital HERO – Tsukasa_!" the proctor continued his turn, to which his Monster flew across the field.

As _Tsukasa_ raised his staff to defend himself, the proctor's Monster just swung its heavy weapon, breaking right through the staff and smashing into _Tsukasa_, destroying the _Magician_ Monster.

"Reversed card, open!" Kaito countered once _Tsukasa_ was taken off the field, pressing a button on his Duel Disk to raise his face-down card which showed a video game character with a message indicator above their head. "_Flash Mail_!"

"And what does that do?" the proctor asked.

"When one of my Monsters is destroyed, I can Special Summon any _Digital HERO_ from my deck! But the Monster I choose will have its effects negated and its ATK and DEF halved until my next Standby Phase!" Kaito explained as he pulled out his deck and pulled out a card. "I Special Summon _Digital HERO – BlackRose_!"

As Kaito played his next card, another set of yellow rings of light descended onto the field. Appearing from the rings was a teenage girl with dark skin and short pink hair with pink markings on her cheeks, arms, shoulders and stomach wearing a set of rather revealing reddish-violet armor and carrying a massive two-handed broadsword (7/2500-1250/1200-600).

Once Kaito's new Monster hit the field, several of the male students watching had their eyes glued onto _BlackRose_, though the Monster herself didn't seem to pay any attention to it.

"_Thanks for getting me out here so soon, Kaito,_" _BlackRose_ said.

"Well I could really use the help," the young man replied in a low voice.

"_Don't worry. Just leave this one to Big Sis,_" the female _Warrior_ assured.

"I'll end my turn here!" the proctor declared.

Examiner's hand: 3

"_Boku no tān_!" Kaito called out as he drew his next card. "Now at my Standby Phase, _BlackRose_'s ATK, DEF and Effects are restored!"

To display her returned strength, _BlackRose_ pulled up her giant sword and gave it a strong swing (7/1250-2500/600-1200).

"Next, I use _Piros_' Monster Effect to equip him to _BlackRose_!" Kaito declared. "Party Up!"

"_Wait, what!?_" _BlackRose_ questioned as _Piros_ rose to his feet and walked up beside _BlackRose_. "_You've _got_ to be _kidding _me!_"

"_Wahahahaha! Let us vanquish this foe together!_" _Piros_ cried out heroically.

"While _Piros_ is Union Equipped to another _Digital HERO_, my opponent will be unable to activate any Trap cards until the Damage Step!" Kaito explained.

"What!?" the proctor exclaimed in surprise.

"_BlackRose_, attack _Winged Rhyno_!" Kaito declared.

"_You got it!_" _BlackRose_ said as she and _Piros_ charged across the field, to which _Piros_ dove on top of the proctor's face-down card to keep it from activating. "_**Calamity!**_"

_BlackRose_ leapt at the opposing _Winged Rhyno_ and swung her sword downward as hard as she could, cleaving right through the Monster and destroying it.

Examiner: 3200  
Kaito 4000

With the enemy Monster destroyed, _BlackRose_ and _Piros_ made their way back to Kaito's side of the field.

"_Tān endo_!" Kaito said with a confident smile on his face.

Kaito's hand: 2

"_Watashi no tān_!" the proctor said as he drew his next card. "I activate the Magic card, _Mallet of Luck_! I can shuffle this card and any number of cards from my hand back into my deck and draw the same number of cards I put back in! So I'll shuffle my entire hand!" The proctor then pulled out his deck and shuffled all five of his cards back in before putting his deck back into his Duel Disk and drawing five new cards. "Now I release _Newt_ to Advance Summon _Great Mysterious Bird of the Valley of Haze_!"

The proctor's _Newt_ soon disappeared from the field and was replaced but a large bird-like creature with an animal skull for a head and what looked like three snakes for tails (6/2400/1400).

"_Tān endo_!" the proctor said without playing another card.

Examiner's hand: 4

"_Boku no tān_!" Kaito said as he pulled the next card from his deck. "I summon _Digital HERO – Wiseman_!"

As Kaito played his card, the next Monster to appear from rings of light was a tall, elderly-looking man with short white hair dressed in a red and black robe with a white mark on his forehead carrying a large gold-colored staff (3/1200/900).

"Now I'll activate _Wiseman_'s Monster Effect to equip him to _BlackRose_!" Kaito announced, surprising the proctor, faculty and spectators. "Party Up! Double Union!"

Everyone watching the duel was surprised by Kaito's declaration of a Double Union as _Wiseman_ walked to the same space as _BlackRose_ and _Piros_.

* * *

"Double Union?" the blonde young woman repeated.

"It's the specialty of the _Digital HERO_ cards. They can be equipped with two Union Monsters at a time, making them a deck that can adapt to almost anything," Kenji answered.

"And all of these _Digital HERO_ Monsters must be Union Monsters by the looks of it, meaning that no matter what there'll always be some kind of combination that can be worked into them," said the dark-haired young man.

* * *

"_Shall I clear the way, Kaito?_" _Wiseman_ asked.

Kaito nodded once, "I activate _Wiseman_'s Union Effect! While equipped to a _Digital HERO_, I can destroy a Magic or Trap card my opponent controls!"

The proctor took an involuntary step back as _Wiseman_ pointed the end of his staff at the examiner's face-down card and fired bolts of lightning from the weapon, immediately destroying the card.

"_BlackRose_, attack _Great Mysterious Bird of the Valley of Haze_!" Kaito commanded.

"_I'm on it!_" _BlackRose_ acknowledged as she charged across the field with her sword. "_**Death Bringer!**_"

The female _Warrior_ once again lifted her sword and spun once she was within range, cleaving the bird Monster in half.

Examiner: 3100  
Kaito: 4000

"I'll end my turn with that!" Kaito concluded as _BlackRose_ returned to his side of the field.

Kaito's hand: 2

"_Watashi no tān_!" the examiner shouted as he drew the next card from his deck. "I activate the Magic card, _Lightning Vortex_! By sending a card from my hand to the Cemetery, I can destroy all face-up Monsters my opponent controls!"

As the proctor discarded a card, several bolts of lightning shot down over Kaito's side of the field.

"_I shall take care of this one!_" _Piros_ cried out heroically as he leapt into the air and made himself the target of the lightning bolts, laughing heroically all the while until he was destroyed.

"What the!?" the proctor questioned.

"My _Digital HERO_ Union Effect! When a Monster they're equipped to would be destroyed, I can destroy the Union Monster instead!" Kaito explained as he pushed _Piros_'s card into the Cemetery slot.

"I'll set one card face-down and a Monster in Defense mode," the examiner continued as a reversed card appeared in front of him and a horizontal face-down card appeared in front of it. "_Tān endo_!"

Examiner's hand: 1

"_Boku no tān_!" Kaito called out, pulling the next card from his deck and looking at his hand and the opponent's field. '_A face-down card and a hidden Monster… I could either destroy the face-down with _Wiseman_'s Effect or I can bring back _Piros_ and equip him to _BlackRose_ again to prevent him from activating it when I attack… Or I could…_' "I activate the Magic card, _Rip Maen_!"

The card Kaito played showed _Digital HERO – Tsukasa_ casting a spell on a fallen ally.

"With this card I can Special Summon a _Digital HERO_ from my Cemetery!" Kaito explained, to which the proctor pushed a button on his Duel Disk.

"Counter Trap, _Bribe of the Demonic Palace_!" the examiner countered. "When my opponent activates a Magic or Trap card, I can negate its activation and destroy it, though my opponent is able to draw a card from their deck!"

As Kaito's Magic card shattered, he drew another card from his deck.

"I activate _Wiseman_'s Union Effect to Special Summon him back to the field!" Kaito announced as _Wiseman_ walked to the next Monster Zone (3/1200/900). "And then I release _Wiseman_ to Advance Summon _Digital HERO – Marlo_!"

_Wiseman_ soon disappeared from the field in rings of light only to be replaced by a new figure clad head to toe in dark armor with horns protruding from his helmet and what looked like a demon's face on his breastplate and holding a dark longsword (5/2100/1600).

"_Finally it's time for me to fight!_" _Marlo_ shouted, eager to charge into battle.

"Then I activate _BlackRose_'s Monster Effect to equip her to _Marlo_! Party Up!" Kaito called out as _BlackRose_ walked over to _Marlo_'s space, the two _Warrior_ Monsters readying their sword. "And when _BlackRose_ is Union Equipped to a _Digital HERO_ Monster, that Monster gains 500 ATK and DEF!"

"_I'll lend you a hand,_" _BlackRose_ offered.

"_Whatever,_" _Marlo_ scoffed (5/2100-2600/1600-2100).

"_Marlo_, attack his Monster!" Kaito commanded. "And when _Marlo_ attacks a Monster in Defense mode, he can deal piercing damage!"

The examiner jumped back in surprise as the two sword users charged across the field.

"_**Calamity!**_"

"_**Crack Beat!**_"

The two _Warrior_s slashed the face-down card with their swords, however…

"Marlo_, watch out!_" _BlackRose_ cried out.

"_What the!?_" the dark-armored _Warrior_ shouted in surprise as a mechanical sphere appeared from the destroyed card and latched itself onto him. "_What _is_ this thing!?_"

"The Monster you attacked was my _Instantaneous Bomber_," the proctor explained. "When it's attacked while in face-down Defense mode, damage calculation is negated and it equips itself to the attacking Monster. On my opponent's next Standby Phase, _Instantaneous Bomber_ will destroy the equipped Monster."

"_A trap!? Damn it!_" _Marlo_ cursed.

'_That means next turn, _BlackRose_ will be destroyed… I shouldn't have fallen for that trap,_' Kaito mentally berated himself.

"_Hey, don't get so worked up, brat!_" _Marlo_ shouted at the young man. "_Don't worry about me! Get _BlackRose_ out of here!_"

"_Hey, you don't need to sacrifice yourself to keep me safe! I can handle myself too, you know!_" the female _Warrior_ argued.

"_Shut up, I never asked for your help in the first place!_" _Marlo_ argued back. "_And if you didn't help me we wouldn't _be_ in this situation!_"

Kaito thought on the matter for a moment before making his decision, "I activate _BlackRose_'s Union Effect to Special Summon her to the field!"

The female _Warrior_ gripped the handle of her sword, feeling helpless before reluctantly returning to her Monster Zone (7/2500/1200).

"Then I activate _Marlo_'s Monster Effect!" Kaito continued.

"_You what!?_" the two _Warrior_ Monsters shouted in surprise.

"I equip _Marlo_ to _BlackRose_! This will destroy your _Instantaneous Bomber_ since _Marlo_ will technically be leaving the field!" Kaito announced. "Party Up!"

The dark knight couldn't help but smirk under his helmet, "_You definitely know your sister's tricks, kid._"

As _Marlo_ walked over to _BlackRose_'s space, the _Instantaneous Bomber_ started to crack until it shattered off the knight's armor.

"And with _Marlo_ equipped to her, _BlackRose_ can deal piercing damage!" Kaito explained. "_Tān endo_!"

Kaito's hand: 1

* * *

"Amazing!" Misawa said. "This may be his first duel, but he found a way to save both of his Monsters when any other newcomer would've overlooked such a move!"

* * *

"_Watashi no tān_!" the proctor said as he pulled his next card. "I remove _Winged Rhyno_ in my Cemetery from play to Special Summon _Sylphid_ from my hand!"

The examiner pulled the former card out of his Duel Disk and slipped it into his pocket before playing his next card, calling forth a purple-skinned man wearing white robes and a gold helmet while carrying what looked like a feathered wand as his body was surrounded by gusts of wind (4/1700/700).

"_Tān endo_," the examiner concluded.

Examiner's hand: 1

"_Boku no tān_!" Kaito called out as he drew his next card, then looked at it along with the remaining card in his hand. '_Here it is!_' "I activate the Magic card, _Rip Maen_, to Special Summon _Digital HERO – Piros_!"

As Kaito played his card, the heavily armored axe user materialized back onto the field.

"_Wahahahahahaha!_" _Piros_ laughed once he was back on the field.

"_Do we really have to work with this nut job?_" _Marlo_ asked.

"Don't worry, this duel's done," Kaito answered in a low voice. "I activate _Marlo_'s Union Effect to Special Summon him back to the field!"

"_Looks like the kid's got something planned,_" the dark knight mused as he walked away from the female _Warrior_.

"_You brought back _Piros_ and put _Marlo_ back on the field to have two other Monsters…_" _BlackRose_ began to put this together before a smile spread across her lips. "_Wait, you've got _him_?!_"

"I now release _Piros_ and _Marlo_…" Kaito started as the two Monsters disappeared in rings of light as Kaito played the final card in his hand. "…to Advance Summon my ace! _Digital HERO – Kite of the Azure Flame_!"

As Kaito played his last card, the rings of light began to fade, revealing a young teen with wild blue hair and blue eyes wearing an outfit of mostly red with a white, long-sleeved shirt under a red short sleeved vest of some kind and a thick belt wrapped diagonally over his chest and what looked like a white scarf wrapped around the collar of his shirt as his pants had strange, orange, archaic designs going down the sides of his legs and red, triangular-shaped marks rested on his cheeks. In his hands the teen wielded a pair of daggers (8/2500/2000).

"_About time you showed up, _Kite_,_" was the first thing _BlackRose_ said, to which _Kite_ scratched the side of his cheek with one finger as he smiled.

"_Sorry about that,_ BlackRose_. But you know how difficult it is to bring me out,_" _Kite_ replied. "_But by the looks of it, you guys were handling yourselves pretty well._"

_BlackRose_ suddenly began to blush as she turned her head to look away, "_W-Well of course. What else would you expect?_" But then a thought entered _BlackRose_'s head. "_Wait a second! Were you in Kaito's hand this whole time!?_"

"Calm down, you two. It doesn't matter now," Kaito tried to intervene. "We're still in a duel."

The two _Warrior_s then turned to Kaito with grins on their faces as they both nodded, "_Right._"

"_BlackRose_ attack _Sylphid_!" Kaito commanded.

"_Got it!_" the female _Warrior_ acknowledged as she charged across the field. "_**Calamity!**_"

With a swing of her giant sword, _BlackRose_ cleaved the _Angel_ Monster in two, destroying it in an explosion of pixels before returning to Kaito's side of the field.

Examiner: 2300  
Kaito: 4000

"Let's finish this up, _Kite_!" Kaito said. "Attack the player directly!"

"_I'm on it!_" the red-garbed _Warrior_ said as he gripped his daggers and rushed at the examiner. "_**Staccato!**_"

Once he was close enough to the opposing duelist, _Kite_ performed a spinning multi-hit attack with his blades with the final strike knocking the proctor onto his back.

Examiner: 0000  
Kaito: 4000 (winner)

"I did it…" Kaito said to himself as he saw the Life Point score, a smile spreading across the young man's lips. "I did it! I won my first duel!"

"_Congratulations, Kaito,_" _BlackRose_ said as she and _Kite_ walked back over to Kaito's side of the field, though their bodies had become transparent indicating they were in their spirit forms.

"_I'm sure your sister would be proud of you,_" _Kite_ added.

"Thanks you guys," Kaito said as his examiner got back to his feet.

"The examination duel is over," the proctor said, having recovered from the loss. "Congratulations. You've won."

With a smile still on his face, Kaito bowed to his examiner, "Thank you very much."

* * *

"He won without taking any damage," the blonde young woman noticed with a hint of surprise in her voice. "Not many entrants are able to pull that off."

"It might've just been luck," said the older, dark haired young man. "If the examiner hadn't made that mistake, Number 2 might not have won, much less done as well as he did."

* * *

As Kaito made his way back to the bleachers, Judai was the first one to congratulate him, "That was an awesome duel!"

"Thanks," Kaito said as he flashed a thumbs-up.

"Hard to believe that was your first duel," Misawa said. "No damage against an examiner from the academy, one would think you've been dueling for years."

Kaito then scratched the back of his head, "Well until now I've been more interested in watching duels rather than actually dueling."

"What made you change your mind?" the shorter boy asked.

"Well…"

"_Examinee Number 110, Yuki Judai-_kun_…_" Kaito was interrupted by the PA.

"All right! Looks like I get a shot after all!" Judai cheered before turning his attention back to Kaito for a moment. "You and Misawa might just be tied for second-strongest."

"Hey, you," Misawa said, catching Judai's attention as the brunette young man was making his way down the stairs to the field. "Why are Kaito-_kun_ and I tied for Number 2?"

"Because _I'm_ Number 1," Judai declared while pointing to himself with his thumb before continuing down the stairs.

"He only scored _nine_ higher than me on the written exam, so why is he so confident?" the shorter boy wondered.

"I guess that's what we're about to find out," Kaito said before glancing down at the shorter boy. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm Sho," the boy introduced himself. "Marufuji Sho."

"Kagemochi Kaito," Kaito officially greeted. "Nice to meet you."

* * *

Down at the Duel field, Judai was being lifted up as Chronos was being outfitted with his personal Duel Disk.

"_Buon giorno_!" Chronos greeted the examinee.

"Yuki Judai, sir!" Judai introduced himself as he stood at attention.

"Signor Judai, I am Chronos de Medici, the academy's acting Chief General Director of Practical Application," Chronos returned the introduction.

"What an honor! To think that the Director of Practical Application challenged _me_!" Judai said, getting excited as he rubbed the back of his head. "I bet that means you're expecting a lot out of me!"

'_I've been struck speechless…_' the faculty member though as he sweatdropped while Judai laughed.

* * *

"Professor Chronos is dealing with this personally?" questioned one of the students sitting next to Manjoume.

"Is that Judai dude _that_ big a deal?" wondered the other student sitting to Manjoume's other side.

'_That can't be it!_' Manjoume shouted in his head.

* * *

"First Examinee Number 2 with the _Digital HERO_ cards and now Chronos is taking on Number 110…" Kenji quietly mused underneath his mask. "There might be something interesting about these late entries…"

* * *

"Duel Coat, on!" Chronos called out as he waved his hand over the chest part of his personal Duel Disk.

"That thing's so awesome!" Judai couldn't help but get excited as his opponent repositioned his Duel Coat's tray and drew his starting five cards. "_Sensei_, can I buy one of those coats, too?"

"All of the high-achieving students have one," Chronos explained. '_Not that it would concern a dropout boy like you. It never will…_'

"All right, I'll do my best!" Judai said, getting even more pumped up.

"Duel!" the two shouted as Judai drew his initial five cards.

Judai: 4000  
Chronos: 4000

"_Ore no tān_ (7)!" Judai said as he drew his sixth card and looked over his hand. "All right. I'll summon _Elemental HERO Featherman_ in Defense mode!"

As Judai played his card, a man with most of his body covered in green feathers, a pair of large wings and a claw weapon on his left arm appeared on the field (3/1000/1000).

"Next, I'll set a card on the field," Judai continued as he slid a card into his Duel Disk, causing a reversed card to appear behind his Monster. "My turn's finished!"

Judai's hand: 4

* * *

"He has _Elemental HERO_ cards?" Kaito said while watching the duel, smiling with excitement. "I _really_ want to duel him someday!"

"_Digital HERO_ vs _Elemental HERO_… That would certainly make for an interesting match," Misawa noted. "Both decks are built around adaptability, so seeing those two decks face each other would be worth watching at least once."

* * *

"_Watashi no tān_," Chronos said calmly as his sixth card slide out of the slot when he moved his hand in front of it, then checked his available hand. "_A_ HERO_ Deck, is it? I suppose one could say that he was some kind of small-town hero, then._' "Allow me to teach you how broad the world is! From my hand, I activate the Magic card, _Confiscation_!"

"What? _Confiscation_?" Judai repeated, wondering why his opponent had such a powerful card for an examination duel.

"I pay 1000 points from my Life so I may see my opponent's hand…" Chronos explained while the remaining cards in Judai's hand started to glow. "…choose one card from it, and discard it to the Cemetery." As Chronos finished the explanation of how his card worked, holographic versions of Judai's cards appeared in front of him. "Sure enough, the deck of a dropout boy, I see."

Judai: 4000  
Chronos: 3000

'_Is he taunting the deck I put my life into?_' Judai mentally questioned as he glared a bit at his opponent.

"I'll send _Resurrection of the Dead_ to the Cemetery!" Chronos declared, to which the holographic card turned around to face Judai before shattering to pixels, to which Judai pushed the card into his Cemetery slot. "Then, I'll place two cards face-down on the field." Chronos continued as two reversed cards appeared in front of him. "Next, I activate the Magic card, _Heavy Storm_, from my hand! This card destroys all Magic and Trap cards on the entire field!"

As Chronos played his card, a powerful gust of wind swept across the field, destroying all three reversed cards while briefly revealing Judai's card to have been _Drain Shield_.

Though Judai couldn't help but point out his opponents' blunder, "But, _sensei_, you got _your_ cards mixed into it, too!"

"This is what they call 'being a frog in a well'. Ribbit, ribbit!" Chronos taunted once the wind had died down only for the field to be enveloped in dark mist.

"What the…" Judai said, wondering what could have triggered the mist.

"I Special Summon the _Evil God Token_s!" Chronos announced as a pair of gold, snake-like creatures rose up from the mist. (4/1000/1000) x2

Most of the spectators were in awe at Chronos' move.

* * *

"I'm so lost on what happened…" Sho said.

"_Golden Wicked Idol_ is a special Trap that creates a _Token_ when destroyed," Misawa explained. "Professor Chronos destroyed his own _Golden Idol_s to utilize their effect."

"And since the _Token_s are as strong as _Featherman_, the fact Professor Chronos has two of them means he's planning to summon something powerful," Kaito noted.

* * *

"That's no entry exam deck!" one of Manjoume's "lackeys" realized. "It's Professor Chronos's own _Dark Ages_ Deck!"

"He's got his combo going _and_ quartered off Number 110's Trap at the same time!" Manjoume's other "lackey" noted.

"For there to be an examinee that can beat that deck…" the first "lackey" trailed off.

"…is wishful thinking, right?" the second "lackey" finished.

Manjoume just scoffed, "I thought that examinee was something special, but I was sorely mistaken. Professor Chronos plans to give that dropout boy's fleeting dream a _very_-thorough stomping on."

* * *

"I feel sorry for him. It seems as if Chronos doesn't fancy him," said the blonde young woman as she and her two companions continued to watch the last exam duel.

"This is quite a sight," said the dark-haired young man, earning the young woman's attention. "The _Dark Ages_ Deck… Thanks to Number 110 here, we might have the honor of seeing its legendary rare card."

* * *

"My turn is not over as of yet!" Chronos announced, to which Judai chuckled in amusement.

"Sounds fun! What're you showing me _this_ time, _sensei_?" Judai asked eagerly.

"Next, I release my two _Evil God Token_s…" Chronos said casually as his two creatures burst into flames and vanished. "…to Advance Summon _Antique Gear Golem_!"

* * *

"Isn't this…" the young woman gasped with her eyes widened as Chronos played his card, causing a gigantic mechanical creature to slowly rise up from the ground (8/3000/3000). "His legendary rare card!"

* * *

"Awesome! The rumors filled me in on that thing!" Judai said, eager to face his opponent's best Monster.

* * *

"An eight-star Monster just out of the blue like that?!" Sho said in surprise.

"This might not go well for Judai," Kaito said, worried for his fellow examinee.

* * *

"Chronos de Medici has yet to lose once he's summoned this card," the dark-haired young man stated. "I wouldn't have pegged that examinee to have the power to make the Professor take this seriously."

"Professor Chronos _is_ pretty fickle, you know," the young woman pointed out before letting out a sigh. "It's a shame. I just heard the iron doors of the Academia closing shut."

"Don't count him out yet," Kenji told his companions, earning their attention. "He may have a chance to turn this duel around." The masked young man then turned his eyes towards his male companion. "You know this just as well as anyone… _Kaiser_."

The dark-haired young man merely glanced at Kenji before he and their female companion returned their attention back to the duel.

* * *

Chronos laughed victoriously, "Here I go! **Ultimate Pound!**"

The gears in the _Golem_'s body began to turn as the creature's eye lit up and it slowly pulled its right arm back before throwing it forward at Judai's defending Monster, destroying it on contact.

* * *

"_Antique Gear Golem_'s ATK is 3000, and _Featherman_'s DEF is _1000_! It didn't stand a chance!" Sho said as he shook his head.

"And that's not the half of it," Misawa said, earning Sho's and Kaito's attention. "When that Monster attacks a Monster in Defense mode, and its ATK exceeds its DEF, its effect deals the difference as battle damage to the opponent."

"And when that Monster attacks, the opposing player can't activate any set Magic or Trap cards until _after_ the damage is dealt," Kaito added.

"N-No way… That Monster breaks the rules, doesn't it?!" Sho complained as an illusion of the _Gear Golem_'s fist went right through Judai.

* * *

Judai: 2000  
Chronos: 3000

Chronos continued to laugh as Judai's Life Points fell, "Already lost your fighting spirit, have you?"

However, now it was Judai who was laughing as he raised his head with a smile on his face, "I'm really touched that the General Directing Professor is dueling his hardest against me!"

'_What?! Just how mistaken is he? I never intended to let some dropout boy like you through the gates of the prestigious Duel Academia!_' Chronos yelled in his head as he glared at Judai.

Chronos' hand: 1

'_This is where my true power'll get put to the test!_' Judai thought to himself as he was about to draw his next card, until…

"_Kuri kuri kuri!_"

'_Who's that calling me?_' Judai mentally asked as he pulled the next card from his deck and looked at it. '_It's you from earlier… It couldn't be…_'

* * *

**[Flashback]**

_Before Judai arrived for his exam, he had accidentally bumped into someone and dropped his cards. After picking them up though…_

"_This is a lucky card. Do your best," the person he had bumped into said while holding out a card._

**[Flashback End]**

* * *

The wings on the creature's card began to glow as Judai read its name in his head, '_I see, then. You're _Winged Kuriboh_?_' Judai then looked over the rest of the card to see what it could do, but then thought he was imagining things when he saw the creature on the card wink at him. '_All right, I'll believe in you!_' "From my hand, I summon _Winged Kuriboh_ in Defense mode!"

As Judai played the card, the creature that appeared was a ball of fur with big yellow eyes, green hands and feet with claws, and a pair of white wings (1/300/200).

"Next, I set a card face-down to end my turn!" Judai concluded as a reversed card appeared behind his small Monster.

Judai's hand: 2

Chronos just laughed at Judai's attempt at a defense, "A feathered _Kuriboh_… You have quite the rare card there, no? However, it is just a low-level Monster, is it not? You may have played it in Defense mode, but it will not stave off _Antique Gear Golem_'s piercing effect! I supposed a runt of a Monster _does_ befit a runt!" Chronos mocked his opponent. "My turn, is it not?" The Professor moved his hand over his deck, letting it slide the next card into his hand. "This is the end. Now, _Antique Gear Golem_, use your Ultimate Pound on _Winged Kuriboh_!"

The giant Monster once more pulled its arm back before throwing it at Judai's new Monster, destroying it instantly.

'_Sorry, _Winged Kuriboh_…_' Judai mentally apologized to his Monster.

"Why isn't your Life decreasing?" Chronos asked from confusion.

"On the turn _Winged Kuriboh_'s destroyed, any damage I'd take becomes zero," Judai explained, shocking his opponent.

* * *

"To think there's a card Chronos doesn't know about…" the blonde young woman said, seemingly intrigued by what happened.

"There are some places that even the Professor cannot reach," the dark-haired young man said. "The Dueling World is boundless."

"That's what makes it surprising," Kenji pointed out. "New skills, techniques and combinations appear every day that change the way we duel."

* * *

"That was your runt of a Monster's special ability, was it?" Chronos mocked as Judai slide _Winged Kuriboh_ into the Cemetery.

"You'll pay for calling a friend who put his life on the line to protect me a 'runt'!" Judai warned.

"Such a smart-alec!" Chronos continued. "Is there a problem with me calling your throw-away Monster a 'runt'?"

"There is. _Winged Kuriboh_'s shriek is the signal that'll call the Monsters in my deck out into action!" Judai explained. "I activate my Trap card! _Hero Signal_!"

As Judai's card rose up, it shot a beam of energy at the ceiling, revealing a red **H** once the light faded.

"This Special Summons, from my deck, my second _Elemental HERO_, _Burstlady_!" Judai announced as he pulled the card from his deck and played it, summoning a woman with ash-colored skin and a red, flame-designed suit with a gold helmet and long black hair with ash-colored tips (3/1200/800).

Chronos' hand: 2

"_Ore no tān_!" Judai called out as he drew his next card and looked at it. "_Winged Kuriboh_, I've got a nice, tight grip on all of your cheering. Just watch me!" Judai then looked through the other two cards in his hand. "Then, _Featherman_'s using his firm fighting spirit to come right back! Thanks to the _Safe Return of the Warrior_ Magic card, I bring him back from the Cemetery to my hand, and summon him!"

Judai slid the Magic card into his Cemetery slot and grabbed the _Featherman_ card that slid out, and then played it to bring the feathered _HERO_ back to the field (3/1000/1000).

"Hmph. What good will your fragile little comic book heroes do you?" Chronos questioned. "They are nothing more than Normal Monsters!"

"_Featherman_ and _Burstlady_… Normal Monsters with low ATK are just their temporary forms," Judai explained as he held up a card. "You're in for a shock when you see their true form, _sensei_! I activate the Magic card, _Fusion_!" As Judai played his card, his two Monsters leapt into the air. "This'll fuse _Featherman_ and _Burstlady_!" The two Monsters then dissolved into pixels only to reform into a single, larger Monster with a green and black body, a dragon's head for a right arm, a single white wing sprouting from its back on the left side and a dragon's tail protruding from its backside (6/2100/1200). "Fusion Summon! My favorite card, _Elemental HERO Flame Wingman_!"

* * *

"Cool!" Sho said with amazement.

"That _Flame Wingman_ of his can only be summoned with a Fusion Summon," Misawa explained. "It can deal damage to the opposing player equal to the ATK of the opposing Monster it destroys in battle."

"This is why I'd like to duel him," Kaito said with a smile on his face. "The _Elemental HERO_ cards are mostly focused on Fusion, whereas my _Digital HERO_ cards are focused on Union. Both decks have a wide diversity of effects they can use this way. A duel between them could go either way."

"But still, _Flame Wingman_'s ATK is 2100, so it's nowhere near _Antique Gear Golem_'s ATK," Sho pointed out worriedly.

"Yeah. If he's really Number 1, he'll work something out," Misawa said.

"Actually, he's Number _110_…" Sho corrected.

* * *

"I shall give you a special lecture, so listen up…" Chronos said. "Please keep that in mind! You may have Fusion Summoned it, but its ATK is 2100. It comes well short of my _Antique Gear Golem_!"

"Then, I'll teach _you_ something, _sensei_," Judai said. "Heroes have a battle arena fit just for Heroes!" As Judai spoke, he held up his Duel Disk and a slot on the side opened up. "The Field Magic, _Skyscraper_!"

Once Judai played his final card, the Duel field began to glow as tall buildings rose up around the two duelists and their Monsters. Once everything was in place, _Flame Wingman_ stood atop the tallest of the skyscrapers with the moon shining behind it.

"Okay, the stage is set!" Judai declared. "Go, _Flame Wingman_! Attack _Antique Gear Golem_!"

_Flame Wingman_ spread its wing and dove down towards the mechanized giant.

"_Scherzi_! You must be joking!" Chronos scoffed. "_Flame Wingman_'s ATK doesn't hold a candle to _Antique Gear Golem_!"

Despite what Chronos said, _Flame Wingman_ continued to fly down at its opponent. Then, once its feet touched the ground, the Fusion Monster jumped higher into the air above _Antique Gear Golem_.

"A hero _always_ wins!" Judai said. "_Skyscraper_'s effect is Field Magic that, should an _Elemental HERO_ battle with a Monster with an ATK higher than its own, will raise its ATK by 1000 points!"

"_O_, _Dio_!" Chronos cried out in shock.

"Take this! **Skyscraper Shoot!**" Judai commanded as _Flame Wingman_ grew stronger (6/2100-3100/1200), spun around in the air and dove down at _Antique Gear Golem_ with its body now engulfed in flames.

Professor Chronos does do nothing as he watched Judai's Monster crash down on top of his own, creating an explosion that engulfed the holographic city as the spectators watched with wide-eyes at what was without a doubt a victory for Judai.

Judai: 2000  
Chronos: 2900

"_Mamma Mia_! My _Antique Gear Golem_, it has-" Professor Chronos cried as pieces of his Monster began to fall around him until one piece landed right on his head while _Flame Wingman_ returned to Judai's field.

"Thanks to _Flame Wingman_'s Effect, you'll take damage equal to the ATK of the destroyed Monster, _sensei_," Judai explained.

"What?!" Chronos asked, only to look up and see his Monster continue to crumble. "N-No, no, no, no, no! N-No, no! No!"

Unfortunately, the remains of _Antique Gear Golem_ fell right on top of the Professor, signifying the damage from _Flame Wingman_'s Monster Effect.

Judai: 2000 (winner)  
Chronos: 0000

Judai then raised his hand and held out a two-fingered salute, "Gotcha! That sure was a fun duel, _sensei_!"

"But how…" Chronos mumbled, mortified by his loss as the holograms faded away. "How was I beaten by that dropout boy?!"

* * *

Up in the bleachers, Manjoume and his two "lackeys" were wide-eyed at Judai's win over Chronos.

"I can't believe Professor Chronos was just beaten by an examinee!" Manjoume said in shock.

* * *

"He's kind of interesting, isn't he?" the blonde young woman asked her two companions, only to see the dark-haired young man walk off.

"I get the feeling this is going to be an eventful year," Kenji said.

* * *

"Way to go, Number 110!" Sho cheered.

"He did it!" Kaito also cheered, to which he and Sho high-fived each other, though the former had to kneel down a bit to do so.

'_You might turn out to be a fine rival, Number 1-_kun_,_' Misawa thought to himself with a smirk on his face.

* * *

"Yay! I won! I did it!" Judai cheered, jumping around down on the Duel field and waving at the spectators before pulling out the _Winged Kuriboh_ card. "I'll be counting on you from now on, Partner."

"_Kuri kuri!_" the spirit inside the card squeaked as it winked at Judai.

* * *

(1): _San_ (さん) (sometimes pronounced _han_ (はん) in Kansai dialect), derived from _sama_ (see below), is the most commonplace honorific, and is a title of respect typically used between equals of any age. Although the closest analog in English are the honorifics "Mr.", "Miss", "Mrs.", or "Ms.", _san_ is almost universally added to a person's name, in both formal and informal contexts. However, in addition to being used with people's names, it is also employed in a variety of other ways.

(2): _On__ē__sama - _Means "Big Sister". The prefix _O_ is a marker for politeness, showing respect for the person or thing it is affixed to while the suffix _Sama_ (様 【さま】) is a markedly more respectful version of _san_. It is used mainly to refer to people much higher in rank than oneself, toward one's guests or customers (e.g., a sports venue announcer addressing members of the audience), and sometimes toward people one greatly admires. When used to refer to oneself, _sama_ expresses extreme arrogance (or self-effacing irony), as with _ore-sama_ (俺様, "my esteemed self"). The honorifics -_chan_ and -_sama_ may also be used instead of _-san _when speaking to (or of) a family member, to express a higher level of closeness or reverence, respectively.  
In this instance, Kaito holds his older sister in the highest regard.

(3): _Kun_ (君【くん】) is used by persons of senior status in addressing or referring to those of junior status, or by anyone when addressing or referring to male children or male teenagers, or among male friends. It can also be used by females when addressing a male that they are emotionally attached to or have known for a long period of time. Although_kun_ is generally used for boys, that is not a hard rule. For example, kun can be used to name a close personal friend or family member of any gender. Also, in business settings, young female employees may also be addressed as _kun_ by older males of senior status. It can also be used by male teachers addressing their female students.

(4): "It's my turn!" - The Japanese word _watashi_ is the polite/formal way of mentioning yourself in a conversation and, outside of anime/manga, is probably the most common of the phrases.

(5): "End turn!"

(6): "It's my turn!" - The Japanese word _boku_ is meant to be used by the speaker when they're talking to or about someone or something familiar to them but as such is an informal way of speaking.

(7): "It's my turn!" - The Japanese word _ore_, while probably being one of the most used words by characters in anime or manga, means that speaking is talking to or about someone very familiar to them or talking to someone they believe to be inferior to them and as such is considered rude and, obviously, is informal.

_Digital HERO - Tsukasa  
_Level-4  
_Yami_  
_Magician_/Union  
ATK: 1400  
DEF: 1600  
Effect: If this card destroys an opponent's Monster by battle, remove that Monster from play. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to a _Digital HERO_ Monster you control as an Equip Spell Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a Monster by this card's effect, if the equipped Monster destroys an opponent's Monster by battle, remove that Monster from play. This card can be equipped with 2 Union Monsters at a time. (If the equipped Monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)

_Digital HERO - Subaru_  
Level-4  
_Hikari  
__Warrior_/Union  
ATK: 1500  
DEF: 1300  
Effect: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to a _Digital HERO_ Monster you control as an Equip Spell Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a Monster by this card's effect, increase the ATK/DEF of the equipped Monster by 400. If this card is equipped to _Digital HERO – Tsukasa_, the equipped Monster cannot be destroyed by battle. This card can be equipped with 2 Union Monsters at a time. (If the equipped Monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)

_Digital HERO - Piros_  
Level-4  
_Chi  
__Warrior_/Union  
ATK: 1800  
DEF: 2000  
Effect: If this card attacks, card effects your opponent controls are negated until the end of the Damage Step. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to a _Digital HERO_ Monster you control as an Equip Spell Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a Monster by this card's effect, if the equipped Monster attacks, your opponent cannot activate any Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step. This card can be equipped with 2 Union Monsters at a time. (If the equipped Monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)

_Digital HERO - BlackRose  
_Level-7  
_Chi  
__Warrior_/Union  
ATK: 2500  
DEF: 1200  
Effect: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to a _Digital HERO_ Monster you control as an Equip Spell Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a Monster by this card's effect, increase the ATK/DEF of the equipped Monster by 500. If this card is equipped to _Digital HERO – Kite of the Azure Flame_, negate any effects that would prevent the equipped Monster from attacking. This card can be equipped with 2 Union Monsters at a time. (If the equipped Monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)

_Digital HERO - Wiseman_  
Level-3  
_Hikari  
Magician_/Union  
ATK: 1200  
DEF: 900  
Effect: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to a _Digital HERO_ Monster you control as an Equip Spell Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a Monster by this card's effect, once per turn, you can destroy 1 Spell or Trap Card your opponent controls. This card can be equipped with 2 Union Monsters at a time. (If the equipped Monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)

_Digital HERO - Marlo_  
Level-5  
_Yami  
__Warrior_/Union  
ATK: 2100  
DEF: 1600  
Effect: If this card attacks a Defense Position Monster, inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to a _Digital HERO_ Monster you control as an Equip Spell Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a Monster by this card's effect, if the equipped Monster attacks a Defense Position Monster, inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent. This card can be equipped with 2 Union Monsters at a time. (If the equipped Monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)

_Digital HERO - Kite of the Azure Flame  
_Level-8  
_Honō  
__Warrior_/Effect  
ATK: 2500  
DEF: 2000  
Effect: Once per turn, you can reduce the ATK/DEF of 1 Monster your opponent controls to 0. If you use this effect, this card cannot attack this turn. This card is unaffected by the effect of _Digital HERO – Shugo_. This card can be equipped with 2 Union Monsters at a time.

_Party of Three  
_Magic  
Effect: If you successfully Normal Summoned a Monster this turn, you can Special Summon up to 2 more Monsters from your hand.

_Rip Maen  
_Magic  
Effect: Special Summon 1 _Digital HERO_ Monster from your Cemetery.

_Flash Mail  
_Trap  
Effect: When a Monster you control is destroyed; Special Summon 1 _Digital HERO_ from your deck. The Monster Special Summoned by this effect has its effects negated and its ATK and DEF halved until your next Standby Phase.

**-IMPORTANT NOTICE-**

**I am in need of a single OC! As the title of the story indicates, there will be Twelve Stars (or twelve Shadow Riders if you want to go by the English version) but I currently only have 11. I need ONE OC to be a student possessed by a "Shadow Rider". If you would like to submit your character, please send me a Private Message containing your character using the character sheet that will be listed below. If you want your character to use a self-made deck you've created, list the archtype name in "Deck" and explain in the Private Message what the deck is based on and how the deck functions/works. If I find it interesting enough, I will ask to see your self-made cards via the DocX and will add you as a contact on it. I hope to see what everyone can come up with because I'm also going to need a LOT of OCs for the next two seasons after this. Also, if a deck you list is already being used by a character in the story (even if that character hasn't appeared yet), I will have to ask you to change to a different deck. I will also accept non-Shadow Rider characters to make cameo appearances in this story. If anyone would like to submit a character that isn't a Shadow Rider, you may skip both the Shadow Rider Name and Dorm sections of the character sheet.**

Name: (if your character is from Japan, Korea, or China, put in your character's last name first and then in brackets with the first name first)  
Age: (The age of your character. Since this is the Japanese version of GX and Duel Academia is treated as a college/university, your character should be between 18 and 20 years old. If your character is not a student of Duel Academia, you can put whatever age you want)  
Gender:  
Country: (Where your character is from. If your character isn't Japanese, please explain why they transfered to Duel Academia. If your character isn't a student, you don't have to explain)  
Dorm: (Osiris Red, Ra Yellow, or Obelisk Blue)(If your character is not a student, you don't need this part)  
Appearance:  
• Hair Style:  
• Hair Color:  
• Eye Color:  
• Physical Build:  
• Attire: (what your character wears besides your dormitory uniform)  
• Scars/Make-up: (if any)  
Personality: (Your character's personality should have some connection to the deck they use in some way, being it their dueling style, how they were raised, from their hobbies, or their views on life since this is roughly the gimmick with most of the GX cast)  
Background: (Your character's life before entering Duel Academia. Or if your character isn't a student, just the highlights of their life that stand out)  
Deck: (If you want to use a specific archtype, you don't have to limit your character to 40 specific cards as I'll use every card of the archtype)  
"Shadow Rider" Spirit's Name: (Chaos is already taken in case anyone was thinking of using it. This spirit will also be playing an important role in Season 4)(This is only for possessed students, so any characters submitted that aren't students don't need this)

Names that can't be used:  
• Any of the OCs listed above (not even parts of their names)  
• Yuuyami Shinjiro, Shin, or Jiro.  
• Zastin Crawford

Decks that can't be used:  
• Light Attribute  
• Dark Attribute  
• Chaos/Twilight  
• Ninja archtype  
• Water Attribute  
• Dragon type  
• Anything being used by the original cast of the anime


	2. Turn 2

**A/N: Hello everyone, this is The Azure Guardian. First of all, Happy Holidays to everyone reading. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Second, just in case anyone may be worried that this story might turn out like my previous GX fics, I swear to Aura that I'll see this one through to the end. And when I make a promise in Aura's name, I keep it. HOWEVER! Whenever The Duelist of Dawn catches up enough to the point I need him to be at with his GX story, I'll be focusing solely on my sequel to Death Rising. Once that story is done, depending on whether or not Kingdom Hearts 2.5 has been released and I get a copy or not, I'll either focus entirely on Keyblade of the Onmyouji or this series. But once Keyblade of the Onmyouji's first part is done, I'll be working on this series completely until Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out. Now then, in this chapter we get to meet one of my other OCs which I had named in the disclaimer of last chapter along with teasing two other OCs, one of which being mine and the other belonging to Storylover213. It'll be a bit before they make their real appearances in the story though. Also, I haven't decided on an OC to use yet so I'll still be accepting submissions until after the duels against North Academy. Yes, that means I'll be having more than 1 duel for that. So if anyone still has a character they want to see in this story, use the character sheet at the bottom of Turn 1. Now then, let's get started.**

**Also, the duel for this chapter (excluding Judai vs Manjoume) was once again done with the help of Master of the Wild Card.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Yu-Gi-Oh! Franchise! I _do_, however, own my OCs Kagemochi Kaito, Ikeda Kenji, Hayami Akira, and Kururugi Michiru as well the the _Digital HERO_, _Agarest Soul_ and _Sengoku_ archtypes.**

* * *

**-Turn 2-**

With the practical duel exams over, the faculty of Duel Academia gave the accepted examinees a few days to pack everything they'd need for their stay on the island during the course of the year. Afterwards, the accepted students were being flown to the island via helicopter with Judai sleeping against the window and Sho sitting beside him. Kaito was currently sitting in front of then and looking around at some of the other students. A few that caught his eye consisted of a young man with short reddish-brown hair and a rather dejected look on his face and in his crystal blue eyes, a young woman with brown hair that stopped at her shoulders and grey eyes, and a few seats in front of him Kaito saw someone who had spiked crimson hair with black streaks.

"Whoa, look at that!" one of the students exclaimed, to which all the other students minus Judai moved around to look out their windows.

Not too far off was an island with a large building surrounded by forests, what looked like a beach, and a volcano.

* * *

After the helicopter landed near the building, the students were led inside where they were directed to various changing rooms. Kaito found himself going into the same room as Judai and Sho before noticing everyone in the room had been given a red jacket uniform. Kaito's jacket though, upon request, had its sleeves shortened to his elbows to reveal the longer sleeves of his blue shirt, much to his preference. Once everyone had finished changing, they were led out of the room where they met up with the other students who were dressed in blue or yellow and were taken to a classroom, which was on par with those one would find at a university. Once the students were lined up in front of a large screen, Kaito had a look around at the students and spotted the three he had seen earlier on the helicopter. The brown-haired girl was wearing a white uniform with a raised collar, yellow trimming, yellow elbow-length fingerless gloves and a yellow miniskirt. The crimson-haired person was a young man with golden-amber eyes and had had a forest-green tattoo stretching down the left side of his face and he wore a yellow jacket with a raised collar. The dejected-looking young man from earlier though wore a blue long-tailed jacket with a raised collar and white trimming.

'_Huh… I wonder what the colors are for…_' Kaito thought to himself before the screen at the front turned on to show the face of a bald man with a goatee wearing a oxblood uniform.

"_Welcome, Dueling Elites,_" the man greeted. "_You all used your skills to open the narrow admission gates. Please have fun studying in hopes of becoming the future Duel King._"

* * *

Once the introduction was finished, even though Judai slept through the whole thing only to wake up once it was over, the students were given PDA-like devices, which stored their ID, grades, a map of the island, and just about everything else they'd need during their year-long stay on the island. Every student was also given an academy-issued Duel Disk with the sole exception being Kaito who instead had his own Duel Disk reconfigured to the school's database. Once finished, all the students made their way out of the building, checking their planners for where they would be staying as Kaito spotted Judai and Sho sitting on a small statue.

"Sho! Judai!" Kaito waved over to the two, earning their attention.

"Oh, hey Kaito," Judai greeted.

"What are you two up to?" the _Digital_ duelist asked.

"Looking at the map of the island and seeing where our dorm is," Sho answered as Judai continued to tap on his Student Personal Planner, or SPP for short.

"The dorms we'll be living in from now on are split into three," Judai explained. "Oh, Osiris Red is my dorm."

"Ah, I'm Red too," Sho said as he also looked through his SPP.

"Looks like we might be roommates then," Kaito said with a smile as he held up his SPP. "I'm also in Osiris."

"Awesome!" Judai said ecstatically before seeing Misawa walking up to the group of three. "Hey, Number 2, are you Red too?"

"Nope, I can tell from my uniform," Misawa answered as he raised his right arm a little. "I'm a Ra Yellow."

"Oh, so that's what your uniform color means?" Judai wondered as he looked over his jacket.

"But why are you and Kaito in Red?" Misawa wondered aloud. "That's very peculiar."

"Hmm? That's putting it somewhat vaguely…" Judai grumbled as he pouted.

"I don't mind, I kinda like the color red," Kaito said as he folded his arms behind his head and smiled a bit.

"Well, don't let it bother you," Misawa said as he turned to walk away. "I'll be on my way, now, Number 1-_kun_."

"Well, _you_ just better do your best, and try not to let things get you down!" Judai said as the Ra Yellow student was walking away, but then stopped.

"Ah, that's right…" Misawa said as he turned back to face the group of three Osiris Reds and pointed his thumb to the west. "Your dorms are over there."

The group of three looked in the direction Misawa was pointing and then looked to each other as the Ra student walked off to the southwest.

"Well, how about we go check our place out?" Kaito suggested.

"Sure, might as well get settled in before we start looking around," Judai agreed as he and Sho stepped away from the statues and the three of them walked west of the main building.

Once the group of three arrived at their dorm however, it wasn't quite how they imagined it…

"What is _this_?" Sho asked as the group of three checked out the shack of a dorm. "Is the Osiris Red dorm the only dorm that sucks?"

"Oh, yeah? This place has a great view, and it's got appeal!" Judai said as he looked out to the ocean.

"And by the looks of it, this place at least has everything we'd need," Kaito added.

The group of three had their attention drawn elsewhere soon as a truck slowly pulled back towards the dorm before coming to a complete stop.

"What're they here for?" Sho asked as the group of three saw two men step out of the truck and begin unloading large boxes, which seemed to make Kaito smile widely.

"All right, my stuff is here!" Kaito cheered as he ran down the stairs to check on the boxes.

"All that stuff is _his_?!" Judai and Sho shouted in unison.

Once the truck was unloaded and Kaito thanked the two men, he turned back to Judai and Sho and waved to them as the truck drove off.

"Think you guys could lend me a hand real quick?" Kaito asked his friends.

"Sure, but what for?" Judai asked as he and Sho walked down the stairs.

"Getting all this into my room," Kaito answered as he pointed his thumb to the five large boxes and four suitcases behind him.

"All of _this_?! To your _room_?!" Sho repeated.

"Don't worry, my room's on the bottom level," Kaito explained before scratching his cheek with one finger with a bit of an embarrassed look on his face. "I made sure to request it so I wouldn't have to haul them upstairs."

Sho and Judai stared at Kaito for a bit as if he had said something strange before Judai started to laugh, "Sure, we'll give you a hand."

"Thanks guys," Kaito said with a nod. "Just be careful, some of them are really fragile."

Kaito first opened the door to his room before he and his two friends began to carry the boxes and suitcases in one at a time. Once all the items were in though, Judai felt the need to crack his back while Sho shook his arms.

"Geez, those were heavy," Judai said as he snapped his back into place.

"I don't think I'll be able to lift anything again…" Sho complained as his arms kept falling to his sides every time he raised them.

"Thanks a lot, guys. I'll be sure to return the favor," Kaito said.

"No problem. We'll let you know if we need help with anything," Judai accepted the gesture before he and Sho made their way out.

"See you later, Kaito," Sho said, closing Kaito's room door behind him.

Once his friends were gone, Kaito slowly looked around the room, "All right then, time for me to get to work."

The first thing Kaito did was push the suitcases against the wall near the bunk bed and then he pulled the small desk away from the wall and towards the bed. Then he proceeded to open one of the boxes, revealing it to be a large foldable desk. Once unfolded, Kaito pushed the larger desk against the wall where the smaller desk had previously been. Next he opened three matching boxes, revealing all of them to be computer monitors, and carefully lifted them up onto the large desk with the two end monitors turned slightly inward. In the last box was a large computer tower, a keyboard and a wireless mouse. After placing the mouse and keyboard in front of the monitors, Kaito slowly pushed the tower underneath the desk. With everything in place, Kaito began to hook up the monitors, keyboard and mouse to the tower before plugging the tower into the AC socket.

"Now for the moment of truth…" Kaito said to himself as he pulled up the chair that was in the room, set his backpack down beside the chair and sat down before turning on the computer's power.

The tower whirred to life as the three monitors lit up and loaded the desktop, causing Kaito to smile in satisfaction.

"_Kaito-_san_, is it ready yet?_" the woman's voice from before whined from inside the young man's Duel Disk.

"Yep," the _Data_-_HERO_ duelist answered the voice before pulling his Duel Disk out of his backpack and ejecting a small computer chip from it. "Here you go."

Kaito then inserted the chip into the computer's tower and soon the sound of a young woman stretching came out of the computer's speakers.

"_Thank you, Kaito-_san_,_" the woman's voice said, now coming out of the computer. "_It was so cramped in your Duel Disk, but now there's so much space._"

"I'm glad you're happy," Kaito said with a smile. "Now, think you could do one more thing for me?"

"_Sure, what do you need?_" the voice questioned.

"I would like you to connect to the academy's systems and check their security," Kaito requested as he pulled a yellow and white laptop out of his backpack and placed it next to the keyboard, turning it on before plugging it to the tower. "Connect it to our systems and hide us in their firewalls. We don't want them to know we're inside."

"_That's a lot of work, Kaito-_san_,_" the voice whined, but then giggled lightly. "_I'm just kidding. I'm always happy to help._"

"Thanks," Kaito said, nodding once. "And when you're done you can take a break in the network."

"_Yay!_" the voice cheered happily. "_And in the meantime, you should have a look around the island. I'll also see if I can get you a detailed map._"

"Thanks a lot…" Kaito said, but then trailed off with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"_Kaito-_san_…_" the voice said in a worried tone. "_Don't worry, I think Saika-_chan_ would be happy that you're doing this for her._"

"Yeah," Kaito agreed, slowly nodding once. "Thank you. I guess I'll let you do your thing while I go have a look around."

"_Good luck,_" the voice said as Kaito got up from the chair, grabbed his Duel Disk and prepared to head out. "_Oh, and don't be gone too long. According to the schedule, there's supposed to be a welcoming party for the new students tonight._"

"Don't worry, I'll be back before then," Kaito replied with a light laugh before leaving his room and closing the door behind him.

"Oi, Kaito!" the _Data_-_HERO_ duelist heard Judai's voice call him, to which Kaito turned around and looked up to see Judai and Sho standing outside of what he guessed was their room. "Heading out already?"

"Yeah, gonna have as much of a personal tour of the island as I can," Kaito answered. "What about you guys?"

"We're doing the same, but I think Big Bro wants to try looking for a duel…" Sho said, to which Kaito tilted his head in confusion at Sho suddenly calling Judai "Big Bro".

"Speaking of, do _you_ wanna duel me, Kaito?" Judai asked eagerly.

"As much as I'd like to, I'm going to pass for now," Kaito answered. "I want to see just how strong you really are before you and I have a duel."

"You too, huh?" Judai questioned as he rubbed his nose. "I know what you mean. I'd really like to see what you can do with those cards before facing you."

"Then why'd you ask him in the first place, Big Bro?" Sho asked with a sigh.

"Well, see you guys later then," Kaito said as he waved to his friends and turned around to walk away.

"See ya!" Judai and Sho called out.

* * *

After wandering around for what felt like hours, Kaito found himself in the forest somewhere between the Ra Yellow and Obelisk Blue dorms, but didn't run into Misawa or any of the other three students he saw on the flight to the island.

"Hm… Maybe I should head back soon," Kaito thought aloud to himself. "She should be done with the system's check by now…"

"Hey, you there!" Kaito heard the voice of a young man call out.

"What do you want?" the irritated voice of a young woman replied.

'_I wonder what's going on…_' Kaito thought to himself with a raised eyebrow before making his way towards the two voices.

"What do you think? I'm challenging you to a duel!" the male voice answered in a snobbish tone.

"You really think we'll have time?" the young woman asked. "The welcoming party is going to starting in less than an hour."

Making a mental note of how much longer he had to be wandering around, Kaito continued towards the voices until he saw a clearing. Keeping himself hidden to stay out of a fight, Kaito looked out to the clearing and saw the brown-haired girl from the helicopter flight facing a young man wearing the Obelisk Blue jacket.

"I'm not worried, I'll beat you well before then," the Obelisk student said confidently.

"You're not going to leave me alone until we duel, are you?" the Ra girl asked before letting out a sigh. "Fine, we'll do it your way."

The Obelisk student just grinned as the two put on their Duel Disks and activated then, drawing their initial five cards.

"Duel!"

Ra: 4000  
Obelisk: 4000

"_Watashi no t__ān_!" the Ra girl shouted, taking the first turn as she drew her sixth card. "I summon _Agarest Soul – Golden Leonhardt_!"

As the young woman played her card, the Monster that appeared was a young man with short silver hair spiked forward wearing a black shirt and pants with a pair of grey boots and a white long-tail coat and a pendant around his neck. (4/1700/1600)

"Then I'll set one card face-down!" the Ra student continued as a reversed card appeared behind her Monster. "_T__ān endo_!"

Ra's hand: 4

"_Ore no tān_!" the Obelisk shouted as he drew his sixth card before placing two cards on his Duel Disk, causing two face-down cards to appear in front of him. "I'll set a Monster in Defense mode and set one card face-down! _Tān endo_!"

Obelisk's hand: 4

"What's wrong, I thought you were looking for a fight?" the Ra girl questioned as she drew her next card. "_Watashi no tān_!"

After drawing her card, the young woman looked through her hand before grabbing a card.

"I summon _Agarest Soul – Treasure Hunter Fer_!" the young woman announced as she played her card, calling forth a Monster that had the appearance of a young boy with short dirty blonde hair and pointed ears wearing a yellow traveler's suit with brown gloves and carrying a brown backpack (1/300/200).

'_She's gotta be baiting him. There's no other reason she'd play a Monster that weak,_' Kaito thought to himself as he watched the duel.

"_Tān endo_!" the Ra concluded.

Ra's hand: 4

"_Ore no tān_!" the Obelisk boy said as he drew his next card. "I summon _Dark Grepher_!"

As the Obelisk student played his card, the Monster that appeared was a muscular man with obsidian-black skin and blood-red eyes wearing a breastplate that looked like the face of a demon while carrying a dark longsword. (4/1700/1600)

"Activate Trap card, _Hidden Soldiers_!" the Ra student countered as her face-down card rose. "When my opponent Normal Summons or _Reverse_ Summons a Monster, I can Special Summon a Level-4 or lower _Yami_ Monster from my hand! And I choose _Agarest Soul – Sky Gunner Murmina_!"

The young woman grabbed another card from her hand an played it, summoning a girl with short blue hair wearing a blue tank top and skirt one-piece with a pair of black wings sprouting from her back. (3/1300/1000)

"I activate _Dark Grepher_'s Monster Effect! I can send a _Yami_ Monster from my hand to the Cemetery to send a _Yami_ Monster from my deck to the Cemetery!" the Obelisk announced. "So I'll send _Wight_ from my hand to send _Madame Wight_ from my deck!"

The Obelisk student pulled the card from his hand and grabbed the card from his deck before pushing both into his Cemetery slot.

'_He sent _Wight_ and _Madame Wight_ using the effect of _Dark Grepher_…_' Kaito thought to himself before his eyes widened. '_He's using a _Wight King_ deck!_'

"_Wight_ and _Madame Wight_? You're not exactly hiding your strategy," the Ra girl pointed out.

"Doesn't matter to me, I'll still beat you," the Obelisk student declared. "_Dark Grepher_, attack _Treasure Hunter Fer_!"

Just as the dark _Warrior_ raised his sword and charged across the field...

"I activate _Fer_'s Monster Effect!" the Ra girl quickly countered. "When he's selected as an attack target, I can return him and the attacking Monster to their owner's hand, but my opponent gets to draw a card!"

Once the young woman finished explaining the effect, both Monsters turned into balls of light and disappeared from the field, to which both players removed the cards from their Duel Disks and the Obelisk drew a card.

"I'll set a card face-down to finish my turn!" the Obelisk concluded as a second reversed card appeared in front of him.

Obelisk's hand: 5

"_Watashi no t__ān_!" the Ra student called out, drawing the next card from her deck. "I summon _Agarest Soul – Grappler Qua_!"

The next Monster to appear on the Ra's side of the field was a rabbit girl with decently long ears wearing a black leotard and thigh-high boots, a thin yellow breastplate and a pair of silver knuckle guards over each hand. (3/1200/1200)

"Now I'll attack your Monster with _Murmina_!" the Ra girl declared, to which the winged girl took flight and pulled out a handgun before firing a few rounds into the face-down Monster.

The Obelisk student just grinned though as the card was filled with bullet holes… but one bullet ricocheted off the card and flew back at the Ra girl.

Ra: 3900  
Obelisk: 4000

"What the?!" the Ra girl shouted in surprise while Kaito's eyes widened while he watched.

"Too bad for you, my Monster was _Pyramid Turtle_!" the Obelisk student said as the destroyed card changed shape into a large turtle with an Egyptian-themed face and a pyramid on its bad (4/1200/1400).

"Then I'll have _Qua_ attack _Pyramid Turtle_!" the Ra girl declared, to which the rabbit girl ran across the field with her arms pulled back. "And during the Battle Phase, her ATK increases by 300!"

_Qua_ leapt into the air as her right fist started to glow (3/1200-1500/1200) and she launched herself downward, smashing her powered-up fist into the turtle's pyramid, causing it to shatter and destroy the Monster in an explosion of pixels before the rabbit girl returned to her comrades.

"_Pyramid Turtle_'s Monster Effect activates! When it's destroyed by battle and sent to the Cemetery, I can Special Summon an _Undead_ Monster with 2000 or less DEF from my deck!" the Obelisk student explained before grabbing a card out of his deck and playing it. "So I summon another _Pyramid Turtle_ in Defense mode!"

As if undoing all of his opponent's work, another Egyptian turtle appeared on the Obelisk's field. (4/1200/1400).

'_I know he'll just bring out something else, but I have to keep the number of Monsters on his field low,_' the Ra girl thought to herself. "_Leonhardt_, attack _Pyramid Turtle_!"

Drawing a silver longsword, the male Monster charged across the field towards the _Undead_ turtle.

"Activate Trap card, _Holy Barrier – Mirror Force – _!" the Obelisk student countered as one of his set cards rose, causing the Ra girl to gasp in surprise. "When my opponent declares an attack, this card will destroy all face-up Monsters they control!"

"_Leonhardt_, stop!" the young woman called out to no avail as a barrier appeared just as the swordsman swung his weapon, destroying him instantly and sending his pixels flying back to the Ra's side of the field to destroy her other two Monsters. "I'll set one card face-down and end my turn!"

A single reverse card appeared in front of the young woman to signify her move.

Ra's hand: 3

"_Ore no t__ān_!" the Obelisk shouted as he drew his next card. "I activate the Magic card, _Dual Summon_! This card will allow me to Normal Summon twice this turn! So I'll summon _Dark Grepher_ and _Wight King_!"

As the Obelisk played his three cards, the first Monster to appear was the obsidian-skinned swordsman (4/1700/1600) while the second Monster was simply a skeleton garbed in a blue tattered robe (1/?/0).

'_There it is… _Wight King_…_' Kaito thought to himself as he saw the _Undead_ Monster before shifting his eyes towards the young woman. '_How is she going to counter it?_'

"_Wight King_'s Monster Effect! His ATK is equal to the number of _Wight_ and _Wight King_ in my Cemetery times 1000, and there are currently two as _Madame Wight_'s effect treats her as _Wight_ while in the Cemetery," the Obelisk student explained as his ace Monster gained ATK (1/?-2000/0). "Then I activate _Dark Grepher_'s Monster Effect to send a _Wight_ in my hand and a _Wight_ in my deck to the Cemetery!"

As the Obelisk student sent the two cards to his Cemetery, his ace Monster grew even stronger. (1/2000-4000/0)

"4000 ATK already?!" the young woman shouted in shock as she took an involuntary step back.

'_If that thing hits her she's as good as done,_' Kaito thought to himself before eyeing the face-down card the Ra girl had. '_That card better be able to stop him somehow if she plans to stay in the duel._'

"_Dark Grepher_, attack her directly!" the Obelisk commanded, to which the dark _Warrior_ charged across the field with his sword and slashed at the female Ra, causing her to flinch and step back before the _Warrior_ returned to the Obelisk.

Ra: 2200  
Obelisk: 4000

"So that face-down card was a bluff after all," the Obelisk said with a smirk. "_Wight King_, attack her directly and end this duel!"

In response, the robed skeleton conjured four floating skulls and launched them at the young woman.

"Activate Trap card, _Curse of the Hexagram_!" the Ra student countered as her set card flipped up and shot out a magic circle that disintegrated the skulls on contact and ensnared _Wight King_.

"What the?!" the Obelisk shouted in surprise.

"_Curse of the Hexagram_ prevents a Monster my opponent controls from attacking or changing its battle position," the Ra explained. "You _really_ think I would let myself get hit by a direct attack by something that strong? Idiot."

The Obelisk just growled before pushing a card into his Duel Disk, causing another reversed card to appear on his field, "I'll set one card face-down to end my turn!"

Obelisk's hand: 2

"_Watashi no t__ān_!" the female Ra called out as she drew her next card. "I summon _Agarest Soul – High Elf Ellis_ in Defense mode!"

As the Ra played her card, a young woman with pointed ears and long pink hair dressed in a white and pink outfit that'd most likely be seen on a magical girl materialized on the field carrying a white staff. (3/1100/500)

"Then I activate _Ellis_'s Monster Effect!" the Ra continued as she pushed a card from her hand to her Cemetery. "By sending a card from my hand to the Cemetery, I can Special Summon _Agarest Soul – Larva Warden Borgnine_ from my deck!"

After taking out her deck and pulling a card, the next Monster to appear on the young woman's field was a large hulking creature with dark skin, horns growing out of his forehead and shoulders, and a strange flame-like substance around his wrists. (6/3000/3000)

"What in the…?! A Level-6 with 3000 ATK?!" the Obelisk shouted is surprise.

"Next, I play the Magic card, _Magic Book in the Pot_!" the Ra girl continued as she played her next card. "This will allow us both to draw three cards!"

"Fine by me!" the Obelisk said as the two duelists drew their three cards.

"Now, since I have _Golden Leonhardt_ and _Queen Knight Elaine_ in my Cemetery, I can Special Summon _Agarest Soul – White Ladius_ from my hand!" the young woman continued as she played her next card.

Appearing on the field was a young man with short, spiked black hair clad in white armor. (5/2400/2500)

"Wait, when did that card get in there?" the Obelisk questioned.

"When I used _Ellis_'s effect, I sent _Elaine_ to the Cemetery from my hand," the Ra explained. "Now then, I'll have _Borgnine_ attack _Dark Grepher_! **Broken Knuckles!**"

"Activate Trap card, _Attack Nullification_!" the Obelisk quickly countered as one of his set cards rose up. "When my opponent declares an attack, I can negate it and end the Battle Phase!"

Just as _Borgnine_ was about to reach his target, a barrier appeared in front of _Dark Grepher_. Seeing it, the larger Monster stopped himself before returning to the Ra's side of the field.

"I'll set one card face-down!" the Ra said as a reversed card appeared behind her Monsters. "_T__ān endo_!"

Ra's hand: 2

"_Ore no tan_!" the Obelisk called out, pulling the next card from his deck. "I summoned _Madame Wight_ in Defense mode!"

But before the Obelisk student could play his card, the Ra girl countered, "Activate Trap, _God's Pronouncement_!"

As soon as the face-down card rose up, a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and struck the Obelisk.

"When my opponent Summons a Monster or activates a Magic or Trap card, I pay half of my Life Points to negate it and destroy it!" the Ra explained.

Ra: 1100  
Obelisk: 4000

"Fine," the Obelisk scoffed as he pushed the card into his Cemetery, but then smirked. "But now that I have another _Wight_ in my Cemetery, _Wight King_ gains another 1000 ATK!" (1/4000-5000/0) "_Dark Grepher_, attack _High Elf Ellis_!"

Raising his dark sword, the _Warrior_ once again charged across the field. But once he was within rang of the female elf, _Borgnine_ stepped in his way, causing the _Warrior_ to stop and back off.

"What the hell?!" the Obelisk questioned.

"Sorry, but while _Borgnine_ is on the field, _Ellis_ can't be selected as an attack target," the Ra explained. "The servant has to protect their master after all."

"Damn it… I'll end my turn!" the Obelisk declared.

Obelisk's hand: 5

"_Watashi no tān_!" the Ra called out as she drew her next card. "I activate the Magic card, _Heavy Storm_, to destroy all Magic and Trap cards on the field!"

As the young woman played her card, a powerful gust of wind blew across the field, destroying the Obelisk's face-down card as well as her own _Curse of the Hexagram_ which got the Obelisk to laugh.

"You fool! Now that your Trap is gone, I'll be free to attack with _Wight King_ next turn!" the Obelisk student stated.

"Too bad for you he won't be staying long enough," the Ra girl said as she played her last two cards. "First I play the Magic card, _"Attack" Sealing_, to force _Wight King_ to Defense mode and then I play the Equipment Magic, _Bigbang Shoot_, onto _White Ladius_ to increase his ATK by 400 and give him a piercing effect!"

As the Ra played her two cards, the robed skeleton was forced onto its knees (1/5000/0) while the white-armored _Warrior_ raised his right arm as his fist was outfitted with some kind of machine. (5/2400-2800/2500)

"Now _Borgnine_, attack _Dark Grepher_! **Broken Knuckles!**" the Ra commanded, to which the hulking creature once again charged across the field, this time smashing his fists into the dark _Warrior_, causing him to explode into pixels.

Ra: 1100  
Obelisk: 2700

"Now _Ladius_, attack _Wight King_!" the young woman continued, to which the white-clad _Warrior_ rushed across the field with his right arm glowing from the added machine before striking the skeletal creature, causing it to shatter and explode into pixels, the explosion knocking the Obelisk onto his back.

Ra: 1100 (winner)  
Obelisk: 0000

"Damn it," the Obelisk groaned as he pushed himself up, the holograms from the duel fading.

"We had our duel and I won, now stop bothering me," the Ra girl told her defeated opponent, who scoffed after rising to his feet and then walked off to which the young woman sighed. "Geez." The Ra student then turned in the direction where Kaito was hiding. "Hey, it's rude to stare! Come on out!"

Flinching for a moment at having been seen, Kaito stepped out into the clearing as he rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"It's almost time for the welcoming party, so what are you doing out here?" the Ra girl asked as she folded her arms and gave the _Data_-_HERO_ duelist a skeptical look.

"I just thought I'd take as much of a walk around the island to have a look around until evening," Kaito explained. "I overheard you and the other guy and came over to check it out. When I saw you two dueling I decided to stick around and watch."

"Uh-huh…" the Ra girl said in a tone that said she didn't believe him.

After a few seconds of awkward silence between the two, Kaito suddenly bowed apologetically, "My name's Kagemochi Kaito!"

"Eh?" the young woman was surprised at the young man's sudden introduction that she unknowingly unfolded her arms. "R-Right. My name's Hayami Akira." The young woman introduced herself in return, to which Kaito pulled himself back up and Akira's eyes widened at a sudden realization. "Wait a minute, Kagemochi Kaito? You're the one with those _Digital HERO_ cards that ranked Number 2 on the written exam!"

Kaito laughed shyly as he rubbed the back of his head again, "Am I already that popular?"

Akira just narrowed her eyes at the young man, "Don't get so full of yourself. A lot of people would be really jealous that an Osiris Red has a deck full of extremely rare cards _and_ one of the highest academic scores of the first-years."

"Y-Yeah, I guess you're right," Kaito agreed as he lowered his arm.

"Anyway, we should both be heading back soon. The welcoming party should be starting shortly," Akira pointed out.

"Ah, right," Kaito agreed. "Well, it was nice to meet you. See ya later!"

"Huh? Y-Yeah," Akira said as Kaito waved to her and headed back towards the Osiris dorm to which she made her way back to the Ra dorm.

* * *

Later that night, all of the dorms were having parties to welcome the new students. The Obelisk Blue dorms were being treated like five-star restaurants or hotels, serving fancy, rich foods while playing classical music as the students conversed amongst each other. Though in the boy's dorm, one of the second-year students, Ikeda Kenji, took notice of a first-year young man with reddish-brown hair with a rather dispirited-looking expression trying to stay away from the other students.

* * *

At the Ra Yellow dorms, the students were treated to rich seafood while introducing themselves. Misawa Daichi was already hitting off a friendship with a young man who had spiked, crimson-red hair with black streaks and a green tattoo running down the left side of his face while Hayami Akira was focused on eating her meal.

* * *

Over at the Osiris Red dorms, however… things weren't going as well for the students as at the other two dorms.

"What's _this_!?" one of the students complained as everyone was looking at their food; a bowl of rice, a plate of small fish, and a bowl of dipping sauce all served on a cafeteria lunch tray. "The other dorms have an incredible feast! And to make things worse, our dorm leader isn't even human!"

All of the students turned their attention towards the table at the front of the room to see a rather fat brown cat curled up on it before letting out a yawn.

"He's a cat…?" another student questioned.

Stepping out from the room at the back though was a rather scrawny-looking man with long black hair tied back into a ponytail wearing a white shirt, black pants, belt and necktie and a pair of square-lensed glasses.

"I'm your dorm leader, Daitokuji-_nya_!" the man greeted his students. "In class, I'll be in charge of alchemy. Pleased to meet you all-_nya_."

"Delicious!" the familiar voice of Yuki Judai rang out, earning everyone's attention as he had already started to eat.

"T-That's tasteless, Big Bro," Sho told the _E_-_HERO_ duelist.

"Really? It's awfully delicious to me!" Judai said with his mouth full.

"That's not what he means, Judai," Kaito sighed. "The Professor was still introducing himself…"

Before Kaito could continue, Daitokuji was already standing at the table occupied by the three friends, causing Judai to stop eating and sweatdrop as the three of them looked up at their dorm leader.

"A matter so small doesn't bother me-_nya_!" the dorm leader said with a grin on his face before turning around to face the other students. "Well, everyone, it will be a pleasure working with you all-_nya_."

* * *

Once everyone had finished their meals and gotten through introductions, the students had returned to their rooms.

"_How was the party, Kaito-_san_?_" the familiar woman's voice asked.

"It was pretty good. That food wasn't bad, but I get the feeling this dorm doesn't get treated very well," the _Data_-_HERO_ duelist said as he walked up to his desk and sat down in the chair. "How was the systems check?"

"_Perfect!_" the voice said in a gleeful tone. "_I'm in the academy's network and I've left alarm traps in case anyone else tries to hack in. Plus I've found that map I promised you._"

"You're the best," Kaito praised with a smile as various windows popped up across his three monitors, the center one having a 3D-rendered map of the island with a scanning program to check any underground passageways. "Hm? What's this one?"

"_What's what one?_" the voice asked.

"There's a blank spot on the map in the forest," the young man answered. "Nothing's showing up and it keeps saying "classified"."

"_Oh, that. As soon as I ran into it I thought it best to leave it alone,_" the voice replied. "_But I left a few extra tripwires around it just in case._"

"Good idea. Don't want to get on anyone's bad side," Kaito said with a nod. "And I see you got enough time to relax while I was gone."

"_Sure did. It feels so nice to be connected to the Internet and gather data,_" the voice said cheerfully. "_And how was your tour of the island?_"

"Wasn't able to do much in the time span until the party," the young man answered. "But I think I made another friend…"

"_Another friend already?_" the woman's voice asked in mock surprise, but then giggled happily. "_Well you've always been good at making friends. So who is it?_"

"A girl from the Ra Yellow dorms, name's Hayami Akira," Kaito answered. "I ran into her as she was starting a duel with some guy from the Obelisk dorms as I was about to make my way back."

"_Well it's nice to see you're already making friends here. This makes your fourth one at the academy,_" the voice said in a cheerful tone. "_I think Saika-_chan _would be very proud of you…_"

"I hope so," Kaito said with a sad smile on his face. "I know she's not the kind of person who'd want someone to avenge her death, so this is the only thing left I can do…"

The voice from his computer let out a concerned sigh, but before she could say anything they heard someone on the stairs from outside.

"Who could that be at this time of night?" Kaito wondered. "You should probably go into safe mode."

"_Got it,_" the woman's voice replied quietly before the monitors went dark, to which Kaito got up from his chair and opened his door to peek outside only to see…

"Judai? Sho?" Kaito wondered, earning the attention of his two friends. "What are you two doing out here so late?"

"Big Bro got a challenge to a duel at midnight, so…" Sho explained.

"You wanna come watch?" Judai asked.

"It's a little late… but sure, why not?" Kaito accepted as he stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him to follow his Osiris friends.

As the group of three got closer to the main building, Sho start to become worried, "Big Bro, Asuka-_san_ said we shouldn't deal with them!"

"What are you talking about? It's a duel!" Judai said, treating it like it was nothing. "A man takes up a challenge if he's posed with one."

"But you'll be going in with the Ante Rule," Kaito noted, having been informed by Sho about the message Judai received as well as what the two did after Kaito left the dorm earlier on their way to the arena. "You could lose your best card if you lose."

"What, you think I'm going to lose?" Judai questioned as the group of three entered the arena.

"No, but there's always a possibility," Kaito responded.

Standing on the Duel field were three Obelisk students; Manjoume Jun and his two "lackeys" Mototani Raizou and Torimaki Taiyou.

"How good of you to come, Number 110!" Manjoume greeted Judai with his arms folded over his chest and already wearing his Duel Disk before noticing Kaito. "And I see you brought a friend."

"Ah, that guy!" Raizou exclaimed, earning everyone's attention. "He's the one who scored Number 2 on the written exam and has that deck of rare cards!"

Manjoume and Taiyou turned their attention towards Kaito.

"Yeah, what about it?" Kaito asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Why does an Osiris have cards _that_ rare _and_ score so high?" Taiyou wondered in surprise.

"It doesn't matter," Manjoume directed at Taiyou and Raizou. "He's not my concern."

Judai laughed a little, knowing Manjoume's attention was directed at him, "I'd have no reason _not_ to come once I'm told about a duel."

"B-Big Bro!" Sho called out as Judai walked up to the Duel field.

"Just let him go, Sho," Kaito said as he placed a hand on Sho's shoulder, earning the shorter boy's attention. "Let's give him our support instead, okay?"

Sho silently nodded once in agreement before the two walked to the Duel field and stood behind Judai as Raizou and Taiyou stood behind Manjoume.

"You're going to show me either the dumb luck or the skill that beat Professor Chronos!" Manjoume declared.

"Right! And I wanted to know just how skilled the elites of the Duel Academia are," Judai said.

Manjoume just laughed, "Listen up! We'll be using the Ante Rule, putting both our best cards at stake."

"Sure! I'm ready for anything!" Judai agreed casually.

"Duel!" the two called out as they started up their Duel Disks and drew their starting five cards.

Manjoume: 4000  
Judai: 4000

"It's my turn first!" Manjoume declared as he drew his sixth card and looked over his hand. "I summon _Reborn Zombie_ in Defense mode!"

As Manjoume played his card, the Monster that appeared was a rotten corpse with his left arm and left leg reduced to skeletons with long, dirty white hair and wearing a tattered green robe. (4/1000/1600)

"I place a card face-down and end my turn," Manjoume concluded as he slide a card into his Duel Disk, causing a reversed card to appear behind his Monster.

Manjoume's hand: 4

'_Duels contain the element of luck as long as there's drawing. However, what decides a match is a strategy based on careful calculations,_' Manjoume thought to himself as she smirked. "Obelisk Blue against Osiris Red. The difference in our intellect has already determined the outcome of this!"

"You can't play a duel in your head! My blazing heart will take you on!" Judai countered as he drew his sixth card. "_Ore no tān_. Draw!" Judai looked at the card he drew and then fanned out the cards in his hand before spotting a familiar card. "Oh, Partner!"

'_Hm? Partner?_' Kaito thought to himself curiously after overhearing Judai. '_Does he have one?_'

"_He has one, but no more than that,_" a voice familiar to Kaito said as a certain Monster from his deck appeared next to him in spirit form.

'Tsukasa_?_' Kaito questioned his Monster through his thoughts. '_You're positive?_'

_Tsukasa_ nodded once as she gripped her staff, "_Yeah. My Guardian can sense it._"

'_I see. Thank you,_' Kaito mentally told the spirit, who nodded once more before returning to the deck.

"With lucky old you by my side, I've got nothing to fear!" Judai said to his card as he grabbed a different card from his hand. "I activate the Magic card, _Fusion_! I fuse together _Elemental HERO Featherman_ and _Burstlady_…" Judai held up the two mentioned cards, causing Manjoume's eyes to widen with surprise as the two Monsters appeared on the field before jumping into the air. "…to summon _Elemental HERO Flame Wingman_ in Attack mode!"

The two Monsters disappeared in a flash of light and were replaced by the same Fusion Monster that Judai had used to defeat Chronos with during his exam. (6/2100/1200)

"All right! This is my favorite card!" Judai said as he flashed the card to Manjoume before placing it on his Duel Disk.

"I've caught you already, it seems," Manjoume said calmly.

"What?!" Judai wondered what Manjoume meant.

"I've already thoroughly analyzed your entry exam duel. Duels are all about brains!" Manjoume shouted. "I activate the Trap car, _Hell Polymer_!" As Manjoume's card rose, the artwork depicted a Monster being engulfed by flames as the card itself gained a dark aura.

"_Hell Polymer_…?" Sho repeated, likely not having heard of the card before.

"This is bad for Judai," Kaito realized.

"It's basic knowledge to a duelist," a young woman's voice spoke up from behind the two, causing the Osiris students to turn around and see a girl with long blonde hair wearing the female Obelisk uniform walking up to them.

"A-Asuka-_san_," Sho identified the girl.

"When your opponent summons a Fusion Monster, you can gain control of that Monster…" Asuka explained. "…by releasing one Monster on your field."

"Huh? What does that mean?" Sho wondered.

"You're about to find out. Watch," Kaito said as he turned back around to watch the duel with Sho doing the same.

"I release _Reborn Zombie_ to gain control of _Flame Wingman_!" Manjoume declared, to which his own Monster was destroyed by a bright light.

"_Flame Wingman_!" Judai called out as his Fusion Monster started to glow and was soon sucked into Manjoume's Trap.

The Trap card soon exploded and _Flame Wingman_ rose up from the ground, now surrounded by the same dark aura as the Trap had been, changing _Flame Wingman_ into something more demonic and turning his wing pitch black. (6/2100/1200)

"His Monster got taken!" Sho stated the obvious with a surprised gasp.

"I knew a Fusion Monster finished Professor Chronos off in your battle with him, so I had that Trap set," Manjoume explained. "I can't believe that you'd step your way right into my Trap, without even knowing that. You're a typical Osiris Red."

"A Fusion Summon's a Special Summon, so I can still Normal Summon this turn," Judai reminded his opponent before looking at the rest of his hand. '_But I don't have any Monsters in my hand with the ATK or DEF to overcome _Flame Wingman_. Guess I'll tide things over with a defensive Monster…_'

'Flame Wingman_ is a Monster that deals damage equal to the ATK of the Monster it destroys…_' Manjoume thought to himself with a grin on his face. '_Whatever he does, he can't go unscathed next turn!_'

"I summon _Elemental HERO Clayman_ in Defense mode!" Judai announced as he played a card.

The next Monster to appear on Judai's field was a creature with a body made of stone and either had a red head or was wearing a red helmet. (4/800/2000)

"_Tān endo_!" Judai concluded.

Judai's hand: 2

"I draw my card!" Manjoume announced as he pulled the next card from his deck. "I summon _Hell Soldier_!"

As Manjoume played his card, the Monster that appeared was humanoid in appearance and wore some kind of dark armor, carried a shield and sword, and had red eyes. (4/1200/1400)

"Go, _Flame Wingman_!" Manjoume commanded the possessed Fusion, to which it leapt into the air and was engulfed in fire. "**Flame Shoot!**"

The Fusion Monster than dove down at Judai's defending _Clayman_ and destroyed it.

"Due to _Flame Wingman_'s Monster Effect, the ATK of the destroyed opposing Monster is dealt as damage to the opposing player!" Manjoume felt the need to tell Judai the effect of his own Monster as the possessed _Flame Wingman_ stood in front of Judai and held out its right dragon arm before unleashing a torrent of flames right in Judai's face.

"Judai!" Kaito called out as Judai cried out from the attack.

Manjoume: 4000  
Judai: 3200

"You don't have a single Monster left to defend you! " Manjoume reminded his opponent as _Flame Wingman_ returned to his side of the field. "_Hell Soldier_! **Hell Attack!**"

The armored Monster dashed across the field with amazing speed and slashed at Judai with his sword, causing the _E_-_HERO_ duelist to cover his chest with his arms and drop to his knees.

Manjoume: 4000  
Judai: 2000

"By putting a stop to your Fusion Monster, you're already out of options, it seems!" Manjoume assumed as _Hell Soldier_ returned to his side of the field. "I don't know how you were in your small town, but you're not at the level you need to make it in the Duel Academia! Got that yet!?" Manjoume then pushed a card into his Duel Disk, causing a reversed card to appear behind his Monsters. "I set a card face-down, ending my turn!"

Manjoume's hand: 3

"Now, it's your turn!" Manjoume called out, but then started to laugh when he saw Judai's body shaking. "Shedding tears of regret, are we, Number 110?"

Judai then raised his head, revealing that his body was shaking because he was laughing as the Osiris student got back to his feet, "I'm touched!"

"What…?" Manjoume quickly asked, surprised to get this kind of response from his opponent.

"The Duel Academia sure is fun!" Judai said. "There's a bunch of guys like you around here, aren't there? This is gonna be great!"

"What was that?!" Manjoume questioned, completely confused by what Judai was saying in comparison to his situation in the duel.

"_Ore no tān_! Draw!" Judai called out as he drew his next card. "I summon _Elemental HERO Sparkman_!"

The next card Judai played called forth a human-shaped figure wearing a blue and yellow suit with a helmet and some yellow armor around his wrists, shoulder and chest with some kind of device on his back. (4/1600/1400)

"Go, _Sparkman_! **Spark Flash!**" Judai commanded.

His Monster responded by charging electricity and then firing it through his arm at _Hell Soldier_, destroying the dark creature instantly as Manjoume tried to cover himself from the explosion.

Manjoume: 3600  
Judai: 2000

However, _Hell Soldier_'s sword flew up out of the smoke, took aim at Judai, and then launched itself at the _E_-_HERO_ duelist.

Manjoume: 3600  
Judai: 1600

"Its Monster Effect activates!" Manjoume explained, having recovered from the destruction of his Monster as he flashed the card to Judai. "_Hell Soldier_ has an effect that deals the same damage its player took to the opposing player when it's destroyed!"

"Big Bro!" Sho called out.

"Your big brother is mighty spirited, but pretty careless," Asuka told Sho, not taking her eyes off the duel. "To just disregard a Monster Effect like that…"

"Judai-_kun_ isn't my real brother…" Sho explained, earning the attentions of Asuka and Kaito. "How could you put it… Well, he's my "spiritual brother"."

Asuka and Kaito looked at Sho, though Asuka had a confused look on her face as if to say she didn't know what he was talking about.

"I think what Sho's trying to say is that even though Judai isn't his real brother, he looks up to Judai _like_ an older brother," Kaito tried to explain. "Right, Sho?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right," the smaller Osiris answered.

"I guess that makes sense," Asuka said as the group of three returned to watching Judai's duel.

"I place a card face-down and end my turn!" Judai concluded as a reversed card appeared behind _Sparkman_.

Judai's hand: 1

"I'm sure to win with my next attack!" Manjoume prematurely declared his victory as he drew his next card. "I draw my card! Go! _Flame Wingman_! Use your Flame Shoot on his _Sparkman_!"

Without playing another card beforehand, Manjoume declared his attack to which the possessed Fusion Monster's body become engulfed in flames again.

"I activate the Trap card, _Different-Dimensional Tunnel – Mirror Gate_!" Judai quickly countered as his set card rose.

"What?!" Manjoume gasped in shock.

"All right! Great move, Judai!" Kaito cheered.

"_Mirror Gate_?!" Sho repeated.

"When your opponent declares an attack on an _Elemental HERO_ you control, _Mirror Gate_ will change possession of those Monsters and resume the battle!" Kaito explained as the two _Elemental HERO_ Monsters shattered into pixels only to return on opposite sides of the field with _Flame Wingman_ returned to his original state. "That means not only does Judai get _Flame Wingman_ back, but Manjoume's going to take a _lot_ of damage!"

The two Monsters then leapt into the air, _Sparkman_ surrounded by a dark aura and _Flame Wingman_ surrounded by an aura of flames, and tried to overpower each other.

"**Sparkling Breaker!**" Judai called out, to which _Sparkman_ tried to send an electric current into _Flame Wingman_'s body, but the Fusion Monster turned the electric flow right back, electrocuting _Sparkman_ and destroying him.

Manjoume: 3100  
Judai: 1600

"Next up, due to _Flame Wingman_'s Monster Effect, the ATK of the destroyed opposing Monster is dealt as damage to my opponent!" Judai stated as his Fusion Monster released a surge of excess electricity at Manjoume.

Manjoume: 1500  
Judai: 1600

"That's my Big Bro for you!" Sho cheered.

"He's pretty good, huh?" Asuka mused.

"You're almost there, Judai! Keep it up!" Kaito called out.

"You're so cool, Big Bro!" Sho called out as well, to which Judai flashed a victory sign with his fingers to the group of three behind him.

"What a cut-up…" Asuka couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Why, you…" Manjoume growled. "Don't get too ahead of yourself there, you freaking Osiris Red dropout!"

"Hm? Dropout?" Kaito repeated to himself.

"Has no one told you yet?" Asuka asked the _Data_-_HERO_ duelist.

"Told me what?" Kaito questioned the Obelisk girl.

"Apparently the dorm you get put into is determined by when you took your written test," Sho explained.

"Ah, I see. I guess I'll look it up when we get back," Kaito said.

"I activate the Magic card, _Hell Blast_!" Manjoume announced as he grabbed a card from his hand, causing a vortex of wind to appear on the field. "During the turn in which a Monster under my control is destroyed, it destroys one Monster on the field, dealing damage equal to half that Monster's ATK!"

A similar vortex appeared underneath _Flame Wingman_ and soon expanded upward, surrounding the Fusion Monster until it destroyed Judai's creature.

"_Flame Wingman_…!" Judai uselessly called out to his Monster as his Life Points dropped.

Manjoume: 1500  
Judai: 550

"Next, I activate the Trap card, _Call of the Living Dead_!" Manjoume continued as his set card rose. "This card selects a Monster card from my Cemetery and Special Summons it in Attack mode! And I'll Special Summon _Hell Soldier_!" As the card slid out of the Cemetery slot, Manjoume grabbed it and play it, summoning the dark-armored swordsman again (4/1200/1400), but then the Monster quickly disappeared from the field. "Then, I release _Hell Soldier_ to summon _Hell General Mephisto_!"

The next Monster to appear on Manjoume's field was another humanoid _Demon_, but this one was clad in black armor with a black cape and had what might've been long blonde hair while on a black-armored steed and wielding a large, double-bladed axe. (5/1800/1700)

"One way or the other, it appears I've clinched my win!" Manjoume declared. "And according to the Ante Rule, I'll take your best card!"

Manjoume's hand: 2

Judai couldn't help but scoff, "We'll see about that."

"What?" Manjoume questioned, but then smirked. "A duel is determined with 99% intelligence, with luck playing its part a mere 1%."

"_Kuri kuri!_" a familiar voice squeaked to Judai, causing the Osiris duelist to look down at the lone _Winged Kuriboh_ in his hand.

"Yeah, I know, Partner," Judai said the to card, to which the artwork winked at him. "I'll risk it all on that 1%! My draw will call out a miracle!" Judai then grabbed the next card from his deck and drew. "_Ore no tān_. Draw!" Turning the card over and looking at it, a smile spread across Judai's lips. '_All right!_'

However, the sudden echoing of approaching footsteps caught Asuka's ears as she quickly turned her head to look down one of the hallways and then turn back to the duelists.

"The security guards are coming!" Asuka warned them, to which the holograms slowly faded. "With the Ante Rule being forbidden by school regulations, and using a facility after hours, you could get expelled for breaking regulations!"

"Huh? There are school regulations like that?!" Judai asked.

Asuka sighed and held up her SPP, "Didn't you read your Student Personal Planner?"

Then, as if he _just now_ noticed Asuka, Manjoume started to blush a bit, '_Asuka-_san_ had been watching my duel?_'

"Manjoume-_san_, this is bad!" Taiyou warned.

"That's enough for tonight. I'll take care of _my_ win," Manjoume said, heeding the advice as he turned and walked off the Duel field.

"The match isn't over yet!" Judai called out.

"That's plenty. You've shown me how capable you are," Manjoume said as he jumped off the field. "Apparently your entry exam was just dumb luck."

"Quit messing around!" Judai called out as Manjoume left with Taiyou and Raizou right behind him.

"Big Bro, they're gonna find us!" Sho cried out with worry.

"Come on, this way!" Asuka said, leading to a way out.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Sho said.

"No! I won't move from the spooot!" Judai whined like a brat.

"Big Bro!" Sho cried out.

"We don't have time for this, Judai!" Kaito said as he climbed up onto the Duel field and grabbed Judai from under his arms. "Let's just get out of here before we get in trouble!"

"Hey, let me go!" Judai struggled as Kaito pulled him down from the Duel field and following Asuka and Sho out of the arena until they were outside, at which point Kaito released Judai.

"For crying out loud, you're quite the hassle, aren't you?" Asuka berated the _E_-_HERO_ duelist.

"Tch, I don't need your opinion…" Judai grumbled.

"You could've gotten us in a lot of trouble, you know," Kaito continued to berate his friend in Asuka's place. "What would you have done if we all got expelled?"

Judai just scoffed and shrugged off the question as Sho showed his gratitude to the Obelisk girl, "Thank you, Asuka-_san_."

"So how did that harsh ordeal from Obelisk Blue feel?" Asuka directed her question at Judai.

"Okay, I guess," Judai shrugged. "But I thought I could've gone on a little longer."

"Is that so?" Asuka asked skeptically, earning the Osiris boy's attention. "If no one had interfered, you would have lost you most important card due to the Ante Rule right around now, right?"

"Nope. I had that duel won," Judai said assuredly with a smile on his face as he held up the last card he had drawn and turned it over to reveal the Magic card, _Resurrection of the Dead_.

Asuka gasped with surprise and Judai smirked as all four of them imagined how the duel would've turned out from there. Judai would've used the Magic card to revive _Flame Wingman_ and attack the weaker _Hell General Mephisto_, dealing 300 damage and then dealing 1800 damage from its effect, a total of 2100 damage to Manjoume's remaining 1500 and giving Judai the win.

"Too bad it had to end so soon then," Kaito said with a grin. "I would've liked to see the real end of the duel."

Judai nodded once to Kaito in agreement before he started to walk away.

"Big Bro!" Sho called out to his friend as he ran after him to catch up with Kaito walking behind them.

'_He might be interesting…_' Asuka thought to herself as she watched the three Osiris students head back to their dorm.

* * *

_Agarest Soul - Golden Leonhardt  
_Level-4  
_Honō  
__Warrior_  
ATK: 1700  
DEF: 1600

_Agarest Soul - Treasure Hunter Fer  
_Level-1  
_Mizu  
__Warrior_/Effect  
ATK: 300  
DEF: 200  
Effect: During damage calculation, if this card is being attack by your opponent's Monster: You take no Battle Damage from this battle, your opponent draws 1 card, and you return this card to your hand.

_Agarest Soul - Sky Gunner Murmina  
_Level-3  
_Yami  
__Warrior_/Effect  
ATK: 1300  
DEF: 1000  
Effect: If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate card effects until the end of the Damage Step.

_Agarest Soul - Grappler Qua_  
Level-3  
_Chi  
__Warrior_/Effect  
ATK: 1200  
DEF: 1200  
Effect: Increase this card's ATK by 300 during the Battle Phase.

_Agarest Soul - High Elf Ellis_  
Level-3  
_Hikari_  
_Magician_/Effect  
ATK: 1100  
DEF: 500  
Effect: Once per turn, you can activate 1 of the following effects:  
• Special Summon 1 _Agarest Soul – Larva Warden Borgnine_ from your hand.  
• Send 1 card from your hand to the Cemetery and Special Summon 1 _Agarest Soul – Larva Warden Borgnine_ from your deck.

_Agarest Soul - Larva Warden Borgnine_  
Level-6  
_Yami_  
_Beast-Warrior_/Effect  
ATK: 3000  
DEF: 3000  
Effect: This card's Attribute is also treated as _Kaze_. While this card is face-up on the field, _Agarest Soul - High Elf Ellis_ cannot be selected as an attack target. While this card is in face-up Defense mode, your opponent cannot target other Monsters for attacks.

_Agarest Soul - White Ladius_  
Level-5  
_Chi_  
_Warrior_/Effect  
ATK: 2400  
DEF: 2500  
Effect: This card's name is treated as _Agarest Soul – Ladius_. You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) if you have 1 _Agarest Soul – Golden Leonhardt_ and 1 _Agarest Soul – Queen Knight Elaine_ in your Cemetery.

_Agarest Soul - Queen Knight Elaine_  
Level-4  
_Chi_  
_Warrior_/Effect  
ATK: 1500  
DEF: 1500  
Effect: Once per turn, you can increase the DEF of 1 Monster you control by 300.


	3. Turn 3

A/N: Hey everyone, The Azure Guardian at your service. Finally got this chapter done, kinda took me a while because of some dialogue and the duel. Btw, props to Fennikusumaru for assisting me with the duel for this chapter. Not much else I to say here, so let's get going!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise! I _do_, however, own my OCs Kagemochi Kaito, Hayami Akira, Kururugi Michiru, and Ikeda Kenji as well as the _Digital HERO_, _Agarest Soul_ and _Sengoku_ archtypes!

* * *

**-Turn 3-**

The day following Judai's midnight duel against Manjoume was the first official day of the school year at Duel Academia. Throughout the day the students met the Professors of their various classes and were given minor assignments to work on to prepare them for the year. The seating arrangements for each dorm consisted of Obelisk Blue students at the top center with Ra Yellow students on the right side of the room going down to the front of the class and the Osiris Red students on the left side going down to the front. Currently, the first-year students were in Professor Chronos' class and he had just selected Tenjoin Asuka to answer a question.

"Among Duel Monsters card, there are Monster cards, Fusion Monster cards, Ritual Monster cards, Effect Monster cards, and Trap and Magic cards," Asuka explained. "Next, Trap cards can be split into Normal Traps, Counter Traps, and Permanent Traps and Magic cards into Normal Magic, Permanent Magic, Equipment Magic, Instant Magic, and Field Magic."

"_Bellissimo!_ A superb job!" Chronos congratulated. "It was a task far too simple for Obelisk Blue's Signora Asuka, was it not?"

"It's just the basics," Asuka said with a bow before sitting back in her seat.

"Now then…" Chronos mused as he looked around at the other students before eyeing one Osiris student in particular. "Signore Marufuji!"

"Y-Yes, sir!" Sho answered as he stood up on his chair, not excepting to be selected.

"Please explain to us what a Field Magic does," Chronos requested.

"Um… a Fi-Field… Magic is… well… err… umm…" the small Osiris stumbled with his words, feeling pressured from being the center of attention.

"Even a kindergartener knows something like that!" an Obelisk student shouted, causing most of the other Obelisks to laugh at Sho, the only exceptions being Asuka and a certain Obelisk boy with short reddish-brown hair who appeared to be flinching from the jeers of his fellow students, even though they weren't directed at him.

Even some of the Ra students began to laugh at Sho, the exceptions being Misawa, Akira and a certain young man with spiked crimson hair while Sho's face slowly turned red from embarrassment.

"Don't worry. Just calm down, Sho," Judai assured his short friend.

"Judai's right, just try to ignore them," Kaito tried to help.

"Very well, then. You may step back," Chronos told the short Osiris, who complied by sitting back down. "To think that you were unable to answer the very basics among basics!" Chronos then slowly shook his head in mock disbelief. "Well done, Osiris Red. You've shocked me…"

Chronos's words caused everyone who had been laughing previous to laugh even harder, though it wasn't known if it was directed at Sho specifically or the entire Osiris dorm.

"I know what it is, but I just had stage fright…" Sho mumbled.

"But _sensei_, knowledge and actual combat are two unrelated matters, aren't they?" Judai spoke up, surprising Chronos and earning the Professor's attention. "I mean, I'm one of the Osiris Red, as well, but I beat you in a duel, _sensei_!"

"And don't forget, I'm also in Osiris Red, even though I was ranked Number 2 on the written exam," Kaito added.

"_Mamma Mia!_" Chronos said as he pulled out a handkerchief and started to chew on it, ashamed from remembering both his loss against a dropout student _and_ that a supposed genius was also a dropout.

This time the Osiris Red students laughed as Kaito and Judai high-fived each other with victorious grins on their faces. Up with the Obelisk Blue students, Asuka looked down at the two Osiris boys with an amused smile as the boy with reddish-brown hair had relaxed somewhat and looked on at the Osiris students.

'_Maybe I would've been better off as an Osiris…_' the young man thought to himself before gripping his left arm with his right hand. '_If it wasn't for my family…_'

With the Ra Yellow students, Misawa had a smirk on his face while Akira looked at Kaito with a narrowed gaze. The young man with spiked crimson hair though seemed to be smiling as he chuckled a bit at the Osiris students, though mainly towards Judai and Kaito.

* * *

Later in the day, the first-year students were just starting their alchemy class with Professor Daitokuji, who was sitting at his desk and petting the fat cat from the Osiris dorm, which was sitting on his lap.

"Well, alchemy is literally creating metal, particularly gold, from items without metal, but, in a broad sense of the word, it's a skill where you attempt to transform and shape ordinary substances into complete substances-_nya_," Daitokuji instructed.

"Big Bro, thanks for earlier," Sho whispered to Judai, who was currently yawning.

"Originally starting in Ancient Egypt, passing through Arabia, and introduced to Europe…"

"Huh? Thanks for what?" Judai asked with a tired look in his eyes.

"'What'? You know…" Sho tried to remind his best friend, but Daitokuji seemed to be seeing the two of them talking.

"You guys might want to keep quiet or you both might get in trouble," Kaito quickly whispered to his two friends.

However, Kaito's attempts were for naught, "Marufuji-_kun_."

"Y-Yes, sir!" Sho answered as he stood up at attention.

"Could you fetch Pharaoh for me?" Daitokuji requested.

"P-Pharaoh…?"

"My cat-_nya_."

A loud mewling sound came from under Sho's desk, causing the boy to look down and see the familiar fat brown cat rubbing against his leg. Though it earned the boy some laughs at his expense, Sho picked Pharaoh up and carried him to Daitokuji's desk.

"Man, Sho can't seem to catch a break, can he," Kaito sighed, feeling sorry for his friend.

"I'm sure things will turn around for him," Judai assured.

"If you think so."

* * *

Later that day, the first-year students were in the gymnasium wearing track suits as they waited for their instructor – and Sho, as he was running late. As the students were waiting, Akira had walked up to Kaito and bumped him with her elbow, getting the Osiris boy's attention.

"You shouldn't be throwing your little achievement around," Akira warned.

"My achievement? What are you talking about?" Kaito asked.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Akira said, glaring at Kaito. "Reminding everyone your score on the written exam."

"What? I wasn't throwing it around," Kaito defended. "I only said it to help Judai in getting Professor Chronos to back off of Sho. I don't like to show off."

Akira's glare softened a little, but still didn't seem pleased, "Well I'm just going to warn you, as a friend, to try and avoid doing that again. Otherwise you could make a lot of enemies out of the people who are jealous of you."

"I understand," Kaito said with a nod, but then noticed something the Ra girl had said. "Wait, a friend?"

This time Akira's eyes widened a bit, realizing what she had said so casually and turned her eyes away from the Osiris boy, "Y-Yeah, that's right. You got a problem with that?"

"Not at all," Kaito answered with a smile. "I'd be glad to be your friend, Akira."

Akira turned her eyes back towards Kaito, "All right, just wipe that stupid smile off your face already."

"Man, what's Sho doing?" Judai wondered as he looked around for the shorter boy.

"He _still_ hasn't shown up?" Kaito asked.

"Not yet," the _E_-_HERO_ duelist shook his head.

"Hello, everyone," a woman's voice greeted, earning the attention of the students as they saw the owner of the voice was a beautiful woman wearing an academy-issued track suit similar to the ones worn by the students, a pair of earring, and a light shade of red lipstick and had red hair and grey eyes. "I am Ayukawa Emi, and as of today, I will be teaching you health and physical education. Pleased to meet you all."

* * *

"Oh, no! Class started!" Sho cried out as the short boy ran through the locker room and came skidding to a halt to turn towards the row of lockers with the one assigned to him while also trying to get his shoes off.

Once Sho reached his locker, he noticed something out of place and knelt down.

"Man, come on, Big Bro… You got things mixed up…" Sho said to himself as he grabbed Judai's shoes and pulled them out. "This is _my_ locker you know…" However, an envelope that was placed on top of Judai's shoes fell out of the locker from the movement, catching Sho's eyes. When he picked it up and saw the lipstick over the seal… " Huh?! Could this be…?!"

Looking around to make sure no one else was in the locker room, Sho took the envelope into a corner between two lockers to open it and read its contents.

"_I've liked you ever since we first met. I'll be waiting for you behind the girls' dorm tonight. –Tenjoin Asuka…_"

After reading the letter, Sho freaked out a little and stumbled backwards until he fell on his backside.

"I-I got a love letter from Asuka-_san _…" Sho came to a realization, to which he immediately began to daydream about himself and the Obelisk girl. "I'm so happy…"

* * *

Later that night, Kaito and Judai had returned to their dorms after using the supplied bathhouse to wash up. Once Judai had gone up the stairs, Kaito went into his dorm room.

"_Welcome back, Kaito-_san_,_" a familiar voice greeted the _Data_-_HERO_ duelist. "_How was your first day?_"

"It went pretty well, all things considered," Kaito answered and he furiously rubbed the towel into his hair to dry it, surprisingly keeping its shape once he was finished. "Learned that quite a few other students don't treat anyone from the Osiris dorm too fairly."

"_Well I have to agree that the way they set that up wasn't very fair either,_" the voice from Kaito's computer said. "_I mean placing students depending on when they took their written exams, whoever made that system was kind of setting themselves up for something like this…_"

"Well considering who owns Duel Academia, I don't think I should be surprised about it. I kinda see starting in Osiris Red as a good thing though, as the only place left to go is up," Kaito said as he started to change out of his gym uniform and into his academy jacket. "Doesn't really give an excuse to pick on Sho, though…"

"_What happened to Sho-_kun_?_"

"Well…" Kaito paused for a moment as he pulled his shirt down over his head. "Professor Chronos had him answer what a Field Magic does, but he wasn't able to probably because he was the center of attention of that moment, so Chronos felt the need to mock him and our dorm."

"_Aw, that poor boy,_" the voice from Kaito's computer said, feeling sorry for Sho as Kaito finished getting dressed.

* * *

At the same time, Sho was crossing the lake by the Obelisk dorms in a rowboat with a joyful smile plastered on his face.

"Asuka-_san_! I'm on my way!" Sho called out as he continued to row towards the girls' dorm.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the girls' dorm, Professor Chronos was dressed in a wetsuit and using a lock cutter to cut through the chains that kept the gate closed. Once the chain was cut and the lock fell to the ground, Chronos pushed the gate open and snuck in, diving from bush to bush to stay hidden until he was just outside the girls' bathhouse.

"Your awesome figure really makes me jealous, Asuka-_san_!" a girl's voice echoed from the bathhouse.

"Stop staring at me so much. It's embarrassing…" Asuka's voice said.

"My, looks like your breasts have gotten bigger, Momoe!" the first girl's voice continued, apparently picking a new conversation target.

"Geez, Junko-_san_! What are you touching?!" another girl's voice, likely Momoe, cried out.

Professor Chronos couldn't help but laugh to himself at the current situation, "This is exactly behind the girls' dorm's bathhouse!" The Professor then began to imagine the flow of events from this point forward. "I'll see that dropout boy as he blindly arrives here, unbeknownst to that! And if I get a quick snap…" Chronos then pulled out a camera as he continued to talk to himself. "If I get him in a picture, then it will be irrefutable proof of that pervert boy peeping into the ladies' bath to anyone's eye!" As Chronos continued to talk, Sho pulled up to the steps in his rowboat and made his way through the gate. "And then, that dropout boy will be expelled, resulting in his farewell from this academy! _Adios!_ That's Spanish… _Ciao!_"

* * *

Inside of the bathhouse, Asuka and her two friends Junko and Momoe were soaking in the water as the latter two started up a conversation about the new male students.

"Anyway, it looks like none of the boys who enrolled this year are any good," Junko analyzed. "Especially that Yuki Judai! He's noisy, crass, and cocky! And that Kagemochi Kaito's no different! He keeps gloating about his written exam score! Right, Asuka-_san_?"

"I don't really care about them," Asuka replied as she washed her face with a towel before turning away from her friends to be left out of the conversation.

"Hey, Asuka-_san_!"

"That Misawa from Ra Yellow is quite the man, isn't he?" Momoe said, changing the subject slightly.

* * *

'O sloe mio… O sole mio… O sole mio…O sole…?' Chronos thought to himself as he waited in the bush until he heard someone walking in his direction, causing the Professor to duck back into the bush with his camera ready. "So, he's arrived. That dropout boy is flying right into the flame."

However, the person who walked in front of Professor Chronos wasn't who he was expecting… "Should be around here…"

"What is this?! Why is it Signore Marufuji?!" Chronos freaked out.

"Who's there?" a girl wondered as she walked out of the bathhouse in her pajamas.

"Oh, no!" Chronos said, realizing he had been caught.

"A peeping tom!" another girl cried out as a few other girls had walked outside, all of them either wearing their pajamas or their uniforms.

"Pervert!" several of the girls cried out.

"Y-You can't be serious! If this keeps up, I'll be the one who's expelled!" Chronos said to himself as he tried to cover his face with his hands before turning around to run away only to slip and fall into the lake.

The girls seemed to have quickly forgotten about Professor Chronos as every Obelisk Blue girl swarmed around Sho, held the boy down and bound his around behind his back with rope.

"Ow, ow, ow… What the…?" Sho asked, confused by the way he was being treated.

"There's no place left to run, you pervert," Junko said as she and Momoe stood in front of Sho wearing just their towels with their arms folded over their chests.

After Asuka got changed back into her academy uniform and Junko and Momoe changed into their pajamas, they dragged Sho into the girls' dorm and forced him to explain what he was doing behind the bathhouse…

"Wait, a love letter from our Asuka, you say?" Momoe questioned.

"Yep," Sho answered simply before winking at Asuka. "Right?"

"What a dope," Junko said. "There's no way that Asuka, the Queen of Obelisk Blue, would write a love letter to an Osiris Red like you!"

"I'm not lying! It was in my locker and said "I'll wait for you behind the girls' down"," Sho explained before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the letter. "See?"

Junko swiped the envelope from the boy's hands and opened it as Asuka and Momoe leaned towards Junko to get a better look at what was on the letter.

"I wouldn't write such vulgar words," Asuka said with a scowl.

"It seems the men of Osiris Red don't even know _that_," Momoe figured.

"Huh? Then, who in the world…" Sho trailed off, curious at who'd write him a fake letter.

Junko looked over the letter again and her eyes widened slightly when she saw something she previously missed, "What's this? This is addressed to Yuki Judai."

"Wha? N-No way!" Sho said, shocked that the fake letter wasn't even addressed to _him_ until Junko showed him the letter and the Osiris boy saw what was written, causing him to sweatdrop that he had missed something so crucial. "Yes, way…"

"I can't believe you were lured here by some fake love letter and came here without any concern," Momoe said. "And to top it off, it was all a mistake."

"This is depressing…" Sho sulked.

"You reap what you sow," Junko said.

"Isn't it the truth," Momoe agreed.

"Let's have this reported to the academy," Junko suggested.

"Peeping into the bathhouse is about as shameless as you can possibly get," Momoe noted.

"I said I didn't peep!" Sho cried out in defense, but it drew some unwanted attention as Ayukawa Emi walked out.

"Everyone's out here together, so what's the commotion?" the dorm leader questioned, surprising the three girls.

"Momoe… Junko…" Asuka quietly said to her two friends, who both nodded once in understanding… which unfortunately for Sho resulted in the three girls pushing the shorter boy down and sitting on him to keep him hidden.

"Did something happen?" Emi asked the girls.

"Y-You're heavy…" Sho strained under the weight of the three girls.

"Rude, aren't you?" Junko quietly snapped at the Osiris.

"Just keep quiet," Momoe warned.

"No, nothing at all. Sorry for making so much noise," Asuka apologized.

"I see. Well then, you should all return to your rooms and get some sleep," Emi advised the girls before leaving to the previous room.

Once their dorm leader was out of sight, the three girls got off of Sho.

"Asuka-_san_," Junko said in a worried tone, knowing that the Obelisk Queen was up to something if she didn't reveal Sho to Emi.

"I have a little plan in mind," Asuka said as she folded her arms over her chest. "Someone had intended on calling out Yuki Judai under my name and set him up as a pervert." A mischievous smirk then crossed her lips. '_Isn't this interesting? I knew I would have to do battle with him sooner or later._'

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Osiris dorm, Kaito was sitting in front of his computer with profiles of various students up across his monitors.

"_Looks like there's a lot of good duelists attending the academy,_" the voice in Kaito's computer said. "_Others don't look like they'd be much of a challenge for you…_"

"Well you can't always judge someone by how they look," Kaito responded as he flipped through a few more profiles. "Let's see here… Third-year student, Marufuji Ryo… Wait, Marufuji?"

"_Isn't that Sho-_kun_'s last name?_"

"It is. Must be his older brother," Kaito figured as he looked through Ryo's profile, happily surprised at what he found. "Whoa, look at this. Considered to be the strongest duelist of Duel Academia, Marufuji Ryo has earned the title of Kaiser and has never once been defeated in the last two years at the academy."

"_Sounds like he'd be a great opponent for your deck._"

"Next one… Second-year student, Ikeda Kenji. One of the highest-ranking duelists under Marufuji Ryo, Kenji is one of three academy students to even damage the Kaiser in a duel," Kaito read. "One of three? Let's see who the others are…" Kaito typed away at his keyboard for his search, but his attempts kept getting him run into a confidential area. "Hm… looks like whoever these other two are will remain a mystery."

"_You're not going to hack through it?_"

"No, I don't want to run the risk of getting expelled for getting into academy secrets. We might trigger something as soon as we tried to open it," Kaito answered before dropping the search window and bringing the profiles back up. "Let's just keep looking." As Kaito continue to type away, he came across profiles for other students Judai, Misawa, and even Manjoume. But the next one he came across had the young man jump up from his chair with his eyes widened. "I've found her…"

"_Found her? Who did you find?_"

"Considered to be the strongest female duelist of Duel Academia, despite being a first-year student, she has been given the title _Queen of Obelisk Blue_…" Kaito read aloud, his mouth hang open slightly as a smile spread across his lips. "…Tenjoin Asuka."

"_Eh?! Asuka-_san_ is the one you were looking for?_" the voice from Kaito's computer questioned, having been told about the Obelisk girl the previous night.

"Looks that way," Kaito said, still smiling as he dug out his deck and held it up. "I think I've found someone Saika-_n__ēsama_ would want to duel…"

"_Well I don't think you'll get a chance to duel her this late. You should wait until another day to challenge her._"

Kaito let out a disappointed sigh, "You're right." The young man then lowered his hand and rested his deck on his desk. "I'll just head outside real quick for some air."

The _Data_-_HERO_ duelist then walked away from his computer and stepped outside of his room, taking a deep breath of the night air.

"Kaito?" a familiar voice questioned following the sudden opening and closing of a door, prompting the azure-haired young man to turn around and see Judai stepping out of his room. "What are you doing out here?"

"Just thought I'd enjoy the night a bit before heading to bed," Kaito answered as his friend rushed downed the stairs. "What are _you_ doing out?"

"Sho's in trouble!" Judai quickly answered.

"What?!"

"Here, listen…" Judai said as he pulled out his SPP and played back the last message he had received.

"_We have Marufuji Sho. If you want him back, come to the girls' dorm,_" the message said in a distorted voice.

"The girls' dorm?" Kaito repeated. "Do you know who could've sent it?"

Judai shook his head, "I don't recognize the voice. I almost barely understood the message."

"Hm…" Kaito hummed for a moment as he looked at Judai's SPP. "Just wait here one second, I'm going to grab something."

Without waiting for a response from Judai, Kaito ran back into his dorm room, surprising the entity occupying his computer.

"_Kaito-_san_? What's wrong?_"

"Someone took Sho," Kaito answered as he began unplugging his laptop from his desktop before glancing at his deck on the desk.

"_What?!_" the voice gasped in shock. "_So you're going to go get him?_"

"Yeah, I'm heading out with Judai since he's the one who got the message," Kaito explained. "They're holding him at the girls' dorm."

"_But if someone sees you there, you could get expelled!_" the voice warned out of concern. "_And what if whoever has Sho is holding him to do just that?_"

"It's a chance we're willing to take," the _Data_-_HERO_ duelist said with finality as he finished pulling out his laptop, then grabbed his backpack, deck and Duel Disk, putting the Duel Disk in his backpack and his deck into his deck holder before putting on the backpack. "Wish us luck."

"_Be careful, Kaito-_san_!_" the voice called out just as Kaito left his dorm and closed the door.

"Judai, could I see your Planner for a second?" Kaito requested as he opened up his laptop and started it up.

"Sure, but why?" Judai wondered as he handed the device to Kaito, who took it and connected it to the laptop with a cable.

"Whoever sent that message used an audio manipulation program," Kaito explained as he typed away at his laptop. "I'm going to clear it up and see who it is."

"Whoa, that's cool," Judai said as he saw Kaito work, the _Data_-_HERO_ duelist's fingers flying across the keyboard. "Wait, so you're a hacker?"

At the instant, Kaito's hands stopped in their tracks and his eyes had widened at the fact he had revealed himself, so the young man hesitated for a moment before answering, "Y-Yeah, I am… But could you please keep it a secret? If others find out, I could get expelled out of the fear that the principal and the dorm leaders don't know what I could do to their systems and whatever information they have stored."

"Don't worry," Judai assured his friend, giving Kaito a thumbs-up. "Your secret's safe with me."

Kaito just looked at his friend in amazement as a smile spread across his lips and he let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Judai. Now then, let's move this along."

Kaito resumed his typing, moving his fingers faster across the keyboard until…

"That should do it…" Kaito said before playing the message again, the voice coming as a surprise to the two duelists.

"Asuka?" the two questioned in unison.

"But why does she have Sho?" Kaito wondered.

"We don't have time to think about it. Let's just hurry over there and get him, we can ask questions later," Judai said.

"Right," Kaito agreed with a nod as he unplugged Judai's SPP and handed it back, stuffing his laptop into his backpack before the two ran towards the lake of the Obelisk dorms.

Upon arriving, the two Osiris duelists took a rowboat and traveled across the lake towards the girls' dorm. Once they docked the boat, they saw Asuka and two other Obelisk girls with Sho, who currently had his arms bound at the wrists by a rope that was being held by the brunette girl. Seeing Kaito with Judai surprised Sho and the girls.

"Big Bro…" Sho whined to Judai.

"So I see you've brought backup," Asuka noted.

"What's going on here?" Judai asked.

"Well… if I told you, it'd either be a very long story or a very short story…" Sho replied.

"He was peeping into the girls' bathhouse!" the brunette girl said.

"What?! There's no way I'd believe Sho would do something like that!" Kaito defended his friend.

"I said I didn't peep!" Sho told the girl.

"If the academy finds out about it, he'll definitely get expelled," the black-haired girl explained to Judai and Kaito.

"Hey, you. Want to duel with me?" Asuka directed at Judai. "If you defeat me, I'll look past the whole "peeping in the bathhouse" thing."

"But I'm telling you, I didn't peep!" Sho argued.

"I don't know what's quite going on, but whatever," Judai said as he punch his right fist into his left palm. "I accept your duel!"

"Wait a minute, Judai," Kaito quickly interrupted as he place a hand on Judai's shoulder. "Asuka, I would like to ask that you duel me in Judai's place."

"Eh?" everyone present looked at Kaito strangely, but the azure-haired young man didn't back down as he stared at Asuka.

"Why do you want to duel her?" Judai asked curiously.

"My reason is my own…" Kaito said as he grabbed his deck holder tightly with his free hand. "Just please… This is something I need to do…"

"Kaito…" Judai trailed off as he saw the determined expression in his friend's eyes before sighing with a reluctant smile. "If this is something you feel you need to do, then go for it."

"Thank you, Judai," Kaito said as he turned his gaze towards his friend with a grateful smile.

Judai just nodded before looking back to Asuka, "Sorry, but I won't be dueling you this time. Is that all right?"

Asuka scowled a little, slightly miffed that she had lost her intended opponent but then let out what might have been a defeated sigh, "Very well then. Kaito will be my opponent."

"Thank you very much, Asuka," Kaito said with a bow. "This means a lot to me."

Once again, the others looked at Kaito in confusion, wondering exactly why Kaito felt the need to duel Asuka. But believing it was something to be addressed another time, Kaito and Judai took Sho onto their rowboat, where they removed the rope from his wrists, while Asuka and her two friends took another rowboat and the two groups rowed out to the center of the lake. Judai, Sho, and Asuka's two friends stayed seated in their respective boats as Kaito and Asuka stood up to put on their Duel Disks and prep their decks. This time though, Kaito decided to wear his Duel Disk on his right arm, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Hey, I think you've got it on backwards," Sho said, to which Kaito raised his right arm to show the Duel Disk to his friends.

"Don't worry, this one's designed to be used on either arm," Kaito explained, showing that the machine had two deck slots. "Plus I'm ambidextrous, so either way works just fine for me."

"Are you ready to duel or not?" Asuka called out to her new opponent. "You seemed to have wanted it badly enough."

"Yeah, I'm ready!" Kaito replied as he pushed his shuffled deck into his Duel Disk.

"Duel!" the two called out as they drew their first five cards.

Asuka: 4000  
Kaito: 4000

"_Watashi no t__ān_!" Asuka called, taking the first turn by drawing her sixth card. "I summon _Etoile Cyber_!"

As Asuka played her card, the Monster that appeared was a woman with blue and red skin with long brown hair, white ribbons around her forearms and a white ballet skirt with the front missing. (4/1200/1600)

"Then I'll place one card face-down!" Asuka continued as a reversed card appeared behind her Monster. "_Tān endo_!"

Asuka's hand: 4

"_Boku no tān_!" Kaito called out as he drew his sixth card. "I summon _Digital HERO – Elk_ in Defense mode!"

As Kaito played his card, a young, blue-haired boy with red eyes appearing identical to _Tsukasa_ appeared, though his attire consisted of a blue hat and gloves, blue and gray robe, and green markings on his cheeks. (3/900/1500)

"Next, I activate the Instant Magic card, _Rai Don_!" Kaito announced as he played his next card. "Since I control a face-up _Hikari_ Monster, I can inflict 800 damage to my opponent!"

Bolts of lightning rained down above Asuka's boat, causing Asuka to cover her head with her Duel Disk while her two friends screamed and huddled together while the electricity zapped Professor Chronos, who was watching the duel from in the water unknown to the duelists.

Asuka: 3200  
Kaito: 4000

"Then I'll set one card face-down!" Kaito continued as a reversed card appeared behind his Monster. "And at my End Phase, _Elk_'s Monster Effect increases my Life Points by 200 for each Monster I control!"

Asuka: 3200  
Kaito: 4200

Kaito's hand: 3

"_Watashi no tān_!" Asuka called out, drawing her next card. "I activate the Field Magic, _Fusion Gate_!" A corner of her Duel Disk opened up, allowing Asuka to place her Field Magic in it before it closed again, but left the field unaltered. "As long as this card remains on the field, both players can Fusion Summon Monsters without the use of a _Fusion_ card, but all Fusion materials are removed from play! So now I fuse _Etoile Cyber_ on my field with _Blade Skater_ in my hand…" Asuka trailed off as she revealed the latter Monster in her hand before pulling _Etoile Cyber_ from her Duel Disk and slipping the two cards into a pocket on her miniskirt. "…to Fusion Summon _Cyber Blader_!"

As _Etoile Cyber_ disappeared from the field, she was soon replaced by another female Monster with long dark hair and pale skin with red markings over the chest and legs, purple hands and feet, red protrusions extending from her shoulders and a red visor over her eyes while wearing ice skates on the bottoms of her feet. (7/2100/800)

"Field Magics… Magic cards that give the entire field a special effect while you're out on the field," Sho muttered, finally answering Professor Chronos's question without hesitation, even if a bit late.

"Next, I play the Equipment Magic, _Meteor Strike_, onto _Cyber Blader_!" Asuka continued as she played another card. "With this card equipped, when _Cyber Blader_ destroys an opponent's Defense mode Monster, you'll take piercing damage! _Cyber Blader_, attack _Digital HERO – Elk_! **Glissade Slash!**"

_Cyber Blader_ skated gracefully across the water, spinning as she made her way towards _Elk_.

"Reverse card, open!" Kaito countered as his set card rose, the artwork depicting _Grappling Warrior Ultimator_ holding his own against _Swordsman of the Dark Demon World, Dark Sword_. "_Ap Vorv_! This card will increase the DEF of all face-up Monsters I control by 1000 until the End Phase!"

"Nice move, Kaito!" Judai cheered.

"Counter Trap, activate!" Asuka counter back, stunning the three Osiris students as her set card rose. "_Bribe of the Demonic Palace_! This allows my opponent to draw a card, but it negates the activation of my opponent's Magic or Trap card!"

"Don't mess with our Asuka-_san_!" Junko called out to the Osiris boys as Asuka smirked victoriously with Kaito drawing his card as his Magic shattered, leaving his Monster to fall against Asuka's Fusion Monster.

Asuka: 3200  
Kaito: 3600

"I set one card face-down!" Asuka continued as a reversed card appeared to replace her Trap. "_Tān endo_!"

Asuka's hand: 1

"_Boku no tān_!" Kaito called out, drawing his next card. "I summon _Digital HERO – Mia_!"

The next Monster to appear on Kaito's field was a humanoid female cat with large, rabbit-like ears, gold eyes and purple fur wearing green light armor. (4/1800/1200)

"But that Monster doesn't stand a chance against _Cyber Blader_!" Sho pointed out.

"My Monsters are about more than just ATK and DEF, Sho," Kaito stated as he grabbed another card from his hand. "I play the Instant Magic, _Dek Corv_! This card will decrease the ATK of all face-up Monsters my opponent controls by 1000 until the End Phase!"

Asuka gasped slightly in surprise as her Monster knelt down a little. (7/2100-1100/800)

"_Mia_, attack _Cyber Blader_!" Kaito commanded.

"_Very well, then,_" _Mia_ replied, drawing a longsword and charging across the lake to slash at the weakened Fusion Monster…

"Activate Trap card!" Asuka countered as her set card rose. "_Doble Passé_! When my opponent declares an attack against a Monster I control, the attack will be redirected to me!"

"What?!" the three Osiris boys gasped in surprise as _Cyber Blader_ flipped herself over _Mia_, causing the feline swordswoman to strike the Obelisk Queen, who raised her arms to brace herself.

Asuka: 1400  
Kaito: 3600

"Why would you make yourself the target?" Kaito asked in confusion as Asuka regained her composure.

"Because _Doble Passé_ has a secondary effect, which will allow my _Cyber Blader_ to attack you directly!" Asuka explained. "_Cyber Blader_, attack!"

Just as the Fusion Monster landed back on the water, she skated towards Kaito before swiftly kicking him in the side, causing the _Data-HERO_ duelist to groan in pain before both Monsters returned to their respective sides of the field.

Asuka: 1400  
Kaito: 2500

"I'll set a card face-down," Kaito continued after regaining himself, a reversed card appearing behind _Mia_. "_T__ān endo_!"

Kaito's hand: 1

And with the end of Kaito's turn, _Cyber Blader_'s ATK was restored. (7/1100-2100/800)

"_Watashi no tān_!" Asuka shouted as she drew the next card of her deck. "I activate the Magic card, _Treasure Cards from the Heavens_! This card will allow us both to draw until we hold six cards!"

"All right, then!" Kaito responded as both duelists drew five cards.

"Next, I activate the Instant Magic, _Cyclone_, to destroy your face-down card!" Asuka announced as she played her next card, causing a strong gale to sweep over the field.

"Reverse card, open!" Kaito quickly countered as his set card rose. "Instant Magic, _Ap Corv_! This card will increase the ATK of all face-up _Warrior_ and _Beast-Warrior_ Monsters I control by 1000 until the End Phase!"

_Digital HERO – Mia_ just smirked mischievously as a faint aura of power surrounded her. (4/1800-2800/1200)

"I summon _Cyber Tutu_!" Asuka continued as she played her next card, calling forth a young ballerina with pink hair wearing a leotard of light blue and dark pink, a transparent tutu around her waist with the front missing, and a blue visor over her eyes. (3/1000/1000) "_Cyber Tutu_, attack!"

"But his Monster is stronger than yours!" Judai pointed out as the ballerina made her way across the lake.

"_Cyber Tutu_'s Monster Effect allows her to attack the opponent directly as long as they don't control a Monster with less ATK than her!" Asuka explain, surprising the Osiris boys again as Kaito braced himself. "**Nouvelle Pointe!**"

Just as _Cyber Tutu_ reached Kaito's side of the field, she gracefully twirled around _Mia_ before striking Kaito with a kick to the chest.

Asuka: 1500  
Kaito: 1500

"Then I'll end my turn with one card face-down!" Asuka concluded as _Cyber Tutu_ returned to her side of the field as _Mia_'s ATK returned to normal. (4/2800-1800/1200)

Asuka's hand: 3

"_Boku no t__ān_!" Kaito called as he drew his next card. "I activate the Magic card, _Rip Maen_! This card will allow me to Special Summon a _Digital HERO_ from my Cemetery! So I Special Summon _Digital HERO – Elk_!"

As Kaito played his card, the blue-garbed _Magician_ reappeared onto the field, looking around before seeing _Mia_ and smiling brightly to the humanoid feline, who grinned back to her companion. (3/900/1500)

"Then I activate _Elk_'s Monster Effect, equipping him to _Mia_!" Kaito continued. "Party Up!"

Wasting no time, _Elk_ gripped his staff and happily ran over to _Mia_'s side.

"When equipped to _Mia_'s, _Elk_'s Union Effect increases her ATK by 1000!" Kaito explained as the two companions readied their weapons. (4/1800-2800/1200) "Next, I activate the Instant Magic, _Cyclone_, to destroy your face-down card!"

"Trap card, activate!" Asuka countered as Kaito played his card, a strong gust of wind sweeping over the field again as her set card rose. "_Emissaries of Reconciliation_! On the turn this card is activated, I won't take any battle damage and my Monsters can't be destroyed by battle!"

'_She's good… She's been able to counter me quite a few times already,_' Kaito thought to himself with a competitive smirk on his face as the wind from his card died down. '_Now I think I know why you loved dueling so much, Saika._' "I'll set one card face-down! And during my End Phase, _Elk_'s Union Effect will increase my Life Points by 400 for each face-up Monster I control!"

Kaito slid a card into his Duel Disk, causing a reversed card to appear beside his two Monsters while _Elk_ raised his staff.

Kaito's hand: 4

Asuka: 1500  
Kaito: 1900

"_Watashi no tān_!" Asuka said, drewing her next card. "I activate the Magic card, _Supremacy Berry_! Since my Life Points are lower than yours, I can increase my Life Points by 2000!"

"2000?!" the Osiris boys repeated as Asuka's Life Points increased.

Asuka: 3500  
Kaito: 1900

"_Cyber Tutu_, direct attack!" Asuka commanded. "**Nouvelle Pointe!**"

The ballerina Monster gracefully dashed across the water towards Kaito again.

"Trap card, activate!" Kaito countered, surprising Asuka. "_Suvi Lei_! When this card is activated, I can select 1 Monster my opponent controls and that Monster will be unable to attack or change its mode as long as this card remains face-up on the field!"

"What?!" Asuka gasped in surprise as _Elk_ aimed his staff at her Monster and fired a spell from it, launching _Cyber Tutu_ back to Asuka's side of the field and paralyzing her.

"Sorry Asuka, but I'm not going to let you beat me that easily," Kaito told his opponent with a competitive smirk.

Asuka couldn't help but smirk back as she pushed two cards into her Duel Disk, "I'll set two cards face-down to end my turn! Now show me what you've got!"

Asuka's hand: 1

"_Boku no t__ān_!" Kaito said, drawing his next card. "I activate _Elk_'s Union Effect to Special Summon him back to the field!"

_Elk_ looked to _Mia_ worriedly, to which the female _Beast-__Warrior_ gently nodded once, prompting the _Magician_ to reluctantly walk away from his companion. (3/900/1500)

"Since you now control two Monsters, _Cyber Blader_'s Monster Effect activates and doubles her ATK!" Asuka explained as her Monster grew stronger. (7/2100-4200/800)

"Next, I release my two Monsters…" Kaito continued as _Mia_ and _Elk_ faded from the field. "…to Advance Summon _Digital HERO – Apeiron, King of Light_!"

The next Monster to appear on Kaito's field was a fairly tall, fairly muscular man with short brown hair that framed his face clad in heavy golden armor that covered his entire body with the exception of his head and a flowing cape with blue on the outside and red on the inside. In one hand he wielded a gigantic, double-bladed battle-axe. (7/2600/2100) As soon as _Apeiron_ appeared, Judai and Sho were in awe while Asuka's friends, Momoe and Junko, couldn't help but swoon over the male Monster. And with only one Monster on Kaito's field, _Cyber Blader_'s ATK was reverted. (7/4200-2100/800)

"You won't scare me with a Monster like that!" Asuka said, standing firm.

'_That makes one of us…_' Kaito thought to himself as he glanced at his newest Monster. '_He's one of the most dangerous cards in this deck… I can understand why Saika often refused to play him._'

"_Why are you hesitating?_" _Apeiron_ questioned the azure-haired duelist. "_Do what needs to be done._"

Kaito forced himself to bite his tongue, knowing that _Apeiron_'s effect could give him the advantage in this duel, "I activate _Apeiron_'s Monster Effect! By sending a card from my hand to the Cemetery, I can destroy all face-up Monsters my opponent controls with an ATK lower than his!"

"All right! Nice move, Kaito!" Judai cheered as Kaito slid a card from his hand into his Cemetery slot.

"_Kneel before your king!_" _Apeiron_ commanded as he tightly gripped his axe with one hand and gave it a mighty swing, sending a shockwave across the field, causing Asuka and her fiends to brace themselves as _Cyber Blader_ and _Cyber Tutu_ were immediately destroyed, causing _Suvi Lei_'s color to fade due to lacking its target.

"Trap card, open!" Asuka countered as one of her set cards rose. "_Call of the Living Dead_! This card will allow me to Special Summon a Monster from my Cemetery in Attack mode! So I Special Summon _Cyber Blader_!"

Rising up from the lake was Asuka's Fusion Monster. (7/2100/800)

"_I'll send that Monster back to the grave!_" _Apeiron_ declared as he charged across the field.

"_Apeiron_, stop!" Kaito called out uselessly as his Monster prepared to swing his weapon.

"Activate Trap card, _Attack Nullification_!" Asuka quickly countered as her last set card rose, generating an invisible barrier in front of _Cyber Blader_, deflecting _Apeiron_'s axe just as he swung. "This card will negate your attack and end your Battle Phase!"

"I set one card face-down!" Kaito continued, a reversed card appearing in front of him as _Apeiron_ returned to his side of the field. "_Tān endo_!"

Kaito's hand: 3

"_Watashi no tān_!" Asuka said as she drew her next card. "I play the Magic card, _Pot of Greed_, allowing me to draw two cards!" After putting the Magic card into her Cemetery slot, Asuka drew her next two cards and glanced at them before smirking victoriously. "I activate the Equipment Magic, _Demotion Punishment_, onto _Cyber Blader_ to decrease her Level by 2!" (7-5/2100/800)

"Why would she lower her own Monster's Level?" Sho wondered.

"Then I play the Equipment Magic, _Fusion Weapon_, onto _Cyber Blader_ to increase her ATK and DEF by 1500!" Asuka announced as she played her next card, causing her Fusion Monster's right arm to shape-shift into some kind of blaster. (5/2100-3600/800-2300) "_Cyber Blader_, attack!"

"Activate Trap card, _Gate Out_!" Kaito quickly countered as _Cyber Blader_ fired an energy shot from her new weapon. "When a Monster I control is selected as an attack target, I can remove all Monsters I control from play to negate the attack and end the Battle Phase!"

Just before the energy shot hit its target, _Apeiron_ was surrounded by rings of light before vanishing from the field, causing the shot to fly over the Osiris boys and hit the lake.

"Then I'll end my turn with that!" Asuka declared.

Asuka's hand: 1

"_Boku no tān_!" Kaito called out as he drew his next card. "During my Standby Phase, all Monsters removed by the effect of _Gate Out_ are Special Summoned back to the field!"

Rings of light descended over Kaito's field, materializing _Apeiron_ back over the lake. (7/2600/2100)

"From my hand, I summon _Digital HERO – Ouka of the Divine Fist_!" Kaito continued as he played a card, summoning forth a voluptuous young woman with short grey hair wearing a purple bikini and a white shawl around her shoulders with a large tuft of white fur around her neck, wolf-like ears sprouting from the top of her head, and knee-high boots shaped like paws complete with gray fur. (4/1800/1300)

Once on the field, _Ouka_ glanced towards _Apeiron_ with a mischievous grin, "_Well, isn't this a treat? Fighting alongside the great _King of Light_._"

_Apeiron_ just glared towards his companion and scoffed.

"_Seems like the _King_ doesn't know how to have fun,_" _Ouka_ noted before turning her gaze back towards Kaito. "_We're going to have to fix that some time, no?_"

Kaito let out a barely audible embarrassed laugh before returning his focus to the duel, "I activate _Ouka_'s Monster Effect and equip her to _Apeiron_! Party Up!" _Ouka_ grinned as she walked over to _Apeiron_ and stood beside him, cracking her knuckles. "_Ouka_'s Union Effect increases the ATK and DEF of the equipped Monster by 1000!" (7/2600-3600/2100)

"So both of our Monsters have the same ATK," Asuka noted. "But just so you know, _Cyber Blader_'s Monster Effect prevents her from being destroyed by battle when my opponent only controls one Monster."

"Then I'll have to end the duel _here_, won't I?" Kaito questioned as he played another card from his hand. "I activate the Magic card, _Force_! This card will halve the ATK of a Monster on the field and increase the ATK of another Monster by the same amount until the End Phase! So I'll halve _Cyber Blader_'s ATK to strengthen _Apeiron_!"

Asuka gasped as she watched energy leave her Fusion Monster as it was transferred to Kaito's, weakening _Cyber Blader_ and making _Apeiron_ stronger. (5/3600-1800/2300) (7/3600-5400/2100)

"Sorry Asuka, looks like I win this one!" Kaito apologized. "_Apeiron_, attack _Cyber Blader_!"

The _King of Light_ charged across the lake with his axe, _Ouka_ following close behind as the two struck Asuka's Fusion Monster. Though _Cyber Blader_ wasn't destroyed due to its effect, the damage transferred through her to Asuka.

"Asuka-_san_!" Junko said with worry.

"Will you be all right?" Momoe asked out of concern.

Asuka: 0000  
Kaito: 1900 (winner)

"You did it!" Sho and Judai cheered for their fellow Osiris as Kaito's two Monsters faded from the field.

Once Asuka and her friends recovered from her loss, the two boats rowed towards each other until they were side-by-side.

"Looks like Sho will be coming back with us, just as we agreed," Kaito said.

"Go right ahead. I'll keep to our agreement," Asuka assured. "And I'll keep quiet about what happened today."

"Humph! You shouldn't get too ahead of yourself, since you won by a fluke!" Junko sneered to the Osiris.

"Quit it, Junko," Asuka berated her brunette friend.

"Asuka-_san_…"

"A loss is a loss, so don't be such a poor sport about it," the Obelisk Queen said.

"I think she's right," Kaito said, earning everyone's attention as he smiled softly, though sadly, to Asuka. "You're very strong, I can tell. I'm certain my sister would've loved dueling against you."

Asuka and her friends widened their eyes a little in confusion before Kaito sat back down in the boat.

"See ya later," Kaito said to the girls before turning his attention to his two friends. "Let's head back, guys."

"Right," Sho agreed as he started to row the boat back towards the Osiris dorm.

'_Looks like Kenji was right. This year will be quite interesting,_' Asuka thought to herself as she watched the three Osiris boys row away.

* * *

_Digital HERO - Elk  
_Level-3  
_Hikari  
__Magician_/Union  
ATK: 900  
DEF: 1500  
Effect: During each of your End Phases, gain 200 Life Points for each Monster you control. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to a _Digital HERO_ Monster you control as an Equip Spell Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a Monster by this card's effect, gain 400 Life Points for each Monster you control. If this card is equipped to _Digital HERO – Mia_, increase the ATK of the equipped Monster by 1000. This card can be equipped with 2 Union Monsters at a time. (If the equipped Monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)

_Rai Don  
_Instant Magic  
Effect: This card can only be activated if you control a face-up _Hikari_ Monster. Inflict 800 damage to your opponent.

_Ap Vorv  
_Instant Magic  
Effect: Increase the DEF of all face-up Monsters you control by 1000 until the End Phase.

_Digital HERO - Mia  
_Level-4  
_Chi  
__Beast-Warrior_/Union  
ATK: 1800  
DEF: 1200  
Effect: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to a _Digital HERO_ Monster you control as an Equip Spell Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a Monster by this card's effect, once per turn, you can target 1 Monster your opponent controls; take control of that target until the End Phase. If this card is equipped to _Digital HERO – Elk_, double the original DEF of the equipped Monster. This card can be equipped with 2 Union Monsters at a time. (If the equipped Monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)

_Dek Corv_  
Instant Magic  
Effect: Decrease the ATK of all face-up Monsters your opponent controls by 1000 until the End Phase.

_Ap Corv  
_Instant Magic  
Effect: Increase the ATK of all face-up _Warrior_ and _Beast-Warrior_ Monsters you control by 1000 until the End Phase.

_Suvi Lei  
_Permanent Trap  
Effect: Select 1 face-up Monster your opponent controls. While this card remains face-up on the field, the selected Monster is unable to attack or change its battle position.

_Digital HERO - Apeiron, King of_ Light  
Level-7  
Hikari  
Warrior/Union  
ATK: 2600  
DEF: 2100  
Effect: Once per your, you can send 1 card from your hand to the Graveyard to destroy all face-up Monsters your opponent controls with an ATK lower than this card. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to a _Digital HERO_ Monster you control as an Equip Spell Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a Monster by this card's effect, once per turn, you can send 1 card from your hand to the Graveyard to destroy 1 Monster your opponent controls. This card can be equipped with 2 Union Monsters at a time. This card cannot be equipped to _Digital HERO – Helba, Queen of the Dark_. (If the equipped Monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)

_Gate Out  
_Trap  
Effect: When a Monster you control is selected as an attack target; remove all face-up Monsters you control from play to negate the attack and end the Battle Phase. Special Summon all Monsters removed by this card's effect during your next Standby Phase.

_Digital HERO - Ouka of the Divine Fist  
_Level-4  
_Hikari_  
_Beast-Warrior_/Union  
ATK: 1800  
DEF: 1300  
Effect: If this card destroys an opponent's Monster by battle, it can attack again. Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this card on the field, you can equip it to a _Digital HERO_ Monster you control as an Equip Spell Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a Monster by this card's effect, increase the ATK/DEF of the equipped Monster by 1000. This card can be equipped with 2 Union Monsters at a time. (If the equipped Monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead.)


End file.
